The Empire State of the South
by Leroy118
Summary: Ray was just an ordinary teenager, until a dragon crash landed near to his home and ended his carefree days of riding his motorcycle around Atlanta. Can Ray help keep his new friends a secret, and let go of his dark past?
1. Chapter 1

The sun coated Atlanta in an orange, sticky heat. Vehicles and bicycles the like had clogged the city streets. Frustrated drivers honked their horns, humoring themselves that it would make any car budge, a typical evening rush hour.

The traffic had come to a stand still. Police stepped in to try and direct traffic, but they had their work cut out for them. Ray sat motionless, his Kawasaki Ninja purring gently. The city was noisy, he'd had enough of Atlanta for a day.

Ray worked at a motorcycle shop downtown. He loved his job, but he hated the daily commute. Summer was right around the corner, and he was looking forward to a good two months of sleeping in until noon.

Suddenly, a blaring horn snapped him out of his day dream. The light ahead was green. Ray shifted into first, losing his patience with the slow city streets.

"An intersection every block, and it's always a red light!" He thought to himself. He couldn't help but fantasize about running each red light and looking back at all the suckers that hadn't. Instead, he obediently waited for the next light to turn green, staring at the row of cars in front of him.

After a few minutes of waiting, he caught a few girls at a picnic table gazing at him and giggling to themselves.

Ray shifted into seventh gear, held the brakes, and twisted the throttle. The engine roared and echoed down the sides of the sky scrapers. They girls laughed again.

The light burned a deep green, and Ray shifted back to first, and waited for the cars in front of him to get some distance. Then, he pulled the throttle, shooting ahead well over the posted limits.

At last, he'd made it to the interstate. Feeling as if a load had been taken off his shoulders, he sped to 90 miles per hour, and bolted ahead of the rest of traffic. He began closing in on another biker. Ray reduced his speed and pulled into the lane next to him. It was an older man with a frosty white beard, wearing a back helmet with a spike and riding an intimidating chopper. Ray gave him the standard devil horns hand signal, and the man flashed it back. Satisfied, Ray drove side by side until it was his exit.

He nodded to the man, and then pulled off the exit ramp, slowly coasting to a stop. The sun had set, and the temperature had decreased. Ray had pulled onto a country road, surrounded by pastures. During the day, "country riders" are quite a common site. But not now. The night was lonely and intimidating. Ray pulled to the side of the road, and gently applied his brakes to a stop. He turned off the engine, and gave a sigh.

Ray glanced around, and then dismounted his bike, opening the seat compartment and slipping on a jacket. In the jacket pocket, a pack of cigarettes awaited him. He grabbed a lighter out of the glove compartment, withdrew a cigarette from the pack, and leaned up against the seat, removing his helmet as he did so.

He shook the sweat out of his brown hair, trickles of a healthy blonde intersected his natural brown. The blonde highlights were a constant reminder of his now ex-girlfriend, who insisted he get them when he took her to her favorite salon. Ray put the cigarette to his mouth, and gave it a light. He inhaled deeply through the filter, savoring the nicotine that calmed him down. After a long day of school, and then work, with midterms that very week, it was enough to make him think of becoming a hermit in the woods.

Suddenly, Ray heard the sound of a car approaching. Casually, he turned the ignition on, so as to turn on the brake light to alert the driver of his presence. He turned his head to face the car, and then he went numb.

"I thought I smelled bacon," Ray muttered. Frantically, he glanced around, debating what he should do. The blue lights on top of the cop car and a siren had confirmed his worst fear. The officer turned on his blinker and began pulling to the side of the road.

Panicking, Ray put out his cigarette and slid it back in the box, and then chucked it over the fence to the pasture.

"Oh man," Ray mumbled. "He's gonna smell it on me, I'm sure."

The officer parked several car lengths down from Ray, turning on a spot light and aiming it at him. "Put your hands on the vehicle and do not make any sudden movements," a strong, southern accent rasped through the loudspeaker.

Struck with fear, Ray did as he was told. He could beat this, he just needed to be calm. If he was caught, he'd have his license taken away, and in the process lose his job.

Slowly, the car door opened, the officer clutching his taser. Ray's heart rate began to rise. "License and registration," The officer commanded. Ray took his hands off the seat and opened the glovebox, withdrawing his insurance papers. He shook the dust off and handed it to the officer. He looked the strip of paper up and down, and then started to sniff.

The officer glanced up at Ray. "You smell like you've been smoking there, bud." He said. "Mind your own business, pig!" Ray wanted to yell.

"No sir, I don't smoke," Ray uttered, straightening his jacket.

"How old are you, son?" The officer put his hands on his hips.

"Sixteen, sir," Ray replied quickly.

"Mmmhmm," The officer glanced at his feet and straightened his belt. "Then do you mind tellin' me why you smell like cigarettes?"

"Well, I work at a motorcycle shop," Ray stuttered. "A lot of the guys that work there and that come in smoke, so that could be the smell."

The officer glared at him for a moment. "Yeah, we'll just let a breathalyzer test see if you're telling me the truth." The officer shuffled back to his patrol car, stopping midway and clasping his radio. "Go ahead." Curiously, Ray looked on, trying to listen in. "But I'm in the middle of a stop. I-" The officer scratched his head. "Understood, 10-4."

The officer turned around. "You lucked out, son. Don't let me catch you again." He got back in his patrol car and turned on the lights and siren, stirring up dirt from the side of the road as he spun the car around. The patrol car drove off until it was no more than a speck in the distance.

Ray gave a sigh of relief. This was definitely the only good thing that's happened to him in a while. "Damn, my cigs!" Ray cursed. He marched across the grass to the chain link fence closing in the pasture. It was a full moon, casting an eery glow on everything it touched. Ray pulled himself over the fence and landed on the ground. The chain link fence jingled and clinked behind him. He rooted around for his pack. After fumbling around in the dim light for a good ten minutes, he gave up.

Ray looked up at the moon, cursing his luck. The cigarettes he liked were not cheap, and that was a full box. He was lucky that at the local gas station, the clerk didn't check I.D. "Damn pigs," He growled. Suddenly, he caught movement in the corner of his eye.

"It was probably just a bat or something," Ray shrugged. He scanned the sky. Ray spotted a winged figure struggling to fly, maybe a few hundred feet above him. Did it have wings, though? It's so far off he could barely tell.

It was a large silhouette, and more of it's features were subtly shown as it flew closer to the moon. It was animal, and it had two large bat-like wings.

It definitely wasn't a plane. It's movements were too erratic. It wasn't a bat, it was just too big. It was moving just above the road now, heading in the opposite direction of Ray.

He didn't know what made him do it, but he was so curious. Ray broke into a run, hurdled the fence and hopped on his bike, slipping on the helmet in one swift movement. He turned the key and pinned the throttle, catching up with the mystery in the sky, which seemed to be losing altitude by the second.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as Ray had gotten rid of some distance between him, and the flying creature above him, it seemed to acknowledge his presence. Whatever it was, it was weak and disoriented, weaving side to side about a hundred feet above the straight country road. Suddenly, Ray realized that he'd just passed his house. No matter, he wanted to find out what this thing really was.

With what seemed like a last breath, the creature bore left and collided with some trees, the sound of wood splintering and leaves rustling was barely audible over the roar of Ray's motorcycle. He pulled to a stop, and aimed his headlights into the ravine that the creature crashed into. It had punched a hole in the tree

line, but it had gone back considerably far.

Ray hesitated, afraid of what to do. He didn't have any neighbors for about a mile, no one but him and this... this thing, were here. If something were to happen to Ray, no one would even know.

Yet, curiosity still compelled him. Ray hesitated still, but then formed a plan. He turned around, driving the few hundred yards back to his house. He pulled into the driveway, a motion censored light greeted him.

Ray pushed his garage door opener and parked his motorcycle, sprinting inside. An only child, his father abandoned him when he was young, and his mother was on a business trip to California for the next six weeks. Ray doubted it was business, but he was glad to be rid of her.

He threw open the cabinet at pulled a large, black case off the top shelf. He hurriedly unzipped the case and withdrew a .243 caliber Remington R-25. It's polished black frame smoothly housed the long barrel. Ray loaded it and put a spare magazine in his back pocket. He quickly attached flashlight to the side rail, allowing him to be as hands free as possible.

Anxious of what was to come, Ray dashed back to his bike, which he'd left running. He dropped his helmet on the pavement and raced back to the crash site.

Ray pulled to a stop at the curb, and turned off his motorcycle, pocketing his keys. He stared through the gaping hole in the pitch black woodland. As intimidating as it was, he was armed now. He would investigate this once and for all whether it, or he, killed him.

Ray cleared his throat and unslung the Remington, taking off the safety as he did so. He clicked on the flashlight, shining a beam of light down the endless rows of pine trees. He crunched leaves underneath his shoes, suddenly regretting he'd worn his brand new Nikes during this little adventure.

Suddenly, he was filled with fear. Ray was never afraid of anything, until the last moment. It went for roller coasters, white water rafting, and at the local skate park when he was a child. But Ray repressed the deep pang of fear, and licked his lips. He kept moving forward, his mind racing on what it could be. And then, on the end of a splintered tree, was a splatter of blood. Ray closely examined it with the flashlight. It was definitely blood. That meant it was in fact alive, and he wasn't crazy!

If it could fly, and it was able to snap trees in half with it's impact, it would surely be capable of inflicting some harm. Ray was so far back in the woods now, he could no longer see the road. He began to walk slower, until he spotted something scarcely 30 feet ahead of him. He aimed down the iron sights and inched closer. It was the body of whatever he saw, it gave off the same glow as the moon when he shined light upon it.

Upon closer inspection, it didn't seem to be breathing, and a long line of spines crept down it's back. It's bat-like wings were unfolded, and one of them seemed bent at an unnatural angle. Ray picked out spots of blood on the forest floor. Ray was only a stone's throw away. He sauntered closer, stepping over twigs and anything else that would give him away.

Ray was so close now, he could see it trembling. A silver, scaled dragon with wings, much larger than Ray, was slowly breathing in and out. It was turned on it's side, and it's back was facing Ray. Ray determined which side the head was on and walked around it, so close that he could stroke the scales. He held back, however.

He followed a long neck, and shined the light on the head. It shifted uncomfortably, moving it's head and staring Ray right in the eye. Stepping back, he readied his rifle, shining the light down at the face.

"Are you alright?" Ray stammered.

"You're-You're human, I take it?" The creature panted. "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. But please, you've got to help me." Ray felt in shock. Not only was he looking at a dragon, this thing could talk!

"What can I do?" Ray asked. "You're bleeding out!"

The dragon made eye contact with Ray for a few moments.

"Sorrel!" It called. "Come back, it's alright!"

Puzzled, Ray took a knee at sat at the dragon's eye level. "Sorrel?" He gaped.

"She ran off after she saw a light coming down here. We've had some experiences with humans before."

"I catch your drift," Ray nodded. "Tell me how I can help you."

"Just wait, for my friend to come back," The dragon replied. Obediently, Ray sat with the dragon, keeping him conscious. This was a beautiful discovery, there was nothing more intriguing than this dragon! Ray had never seen anything like it.

Ray began to hear footsteps crunching the leaves.

"I thought dragons were only in fairy tales?" Ray replied, stroking the dragon's neck.

"Well," it laughed. "Life's one big fairy tale then." Ray felt a furry hand on his shoulder and spun around, staring up at a cat like creature standing upright. It had a sulfur and brown spotted coat, and it was carrying a brown leather bag.

"Move out of the way," Sorrel growled. Ray stood up, standing a good two feet taller than the brownie girl. He moved aside, and let the brownie tend to the dragon. Ray checked the brownie up and down, but primarily kept his eyes on the dragon. It was an awesome sight, he felt like he was going to burst with excitement. The brownie girl opened a bag and dumped a few mushroom heads into her palm. Ray moved forward and shined the light on her palm, and she retreated a few paces.

"Just thought you might need some light," he said innocently.

"I can see fine, thank you very much," Sorrel gave Ray a dirty look.

"Sorrel, enough! He's here to help, the least you could do is be thankful."

"Oh, alright!" Sorrel stomped her furry foot. "Eat these, it should numb the pain."

The dragon turned to Ray. "Thank you for coming all the way out here, what's your name?" Still in shock, Ray stuttered, and then cleared his throat. "I-I'm Ray."

"Well, Ray," The dragon sniffed Ray all over. "As you've probably guessed, this is Sorrel." The dragon affectionately nuzzled the brownie girl. "And I'm Firedrake."

Ray grinned. "Wow!" He exclaimed. "What are you both?"

"I'm a silver dragon," Firedrake grunted. "And Sorrel is a brownie." Sorrel crossed her arms. "Nice to meet you, Sorrel!" Ray said a bit too enthusiastically for her. Ray stuck out his hand, but she ignored it. Feeling offended, he put his hands in his pockets.

"Right, so it looks like you might have a broken wing," Ray said. "I know some first aid, let me take a look at it."

"Thank you, go right ahead!" Firedrake responded. Ray slung his rifle and unscrewed the flashlight off the tactical rail. "Can you stand up, firedrake?"

"Maybe now that half my body's numb, I'll try."

Shaken, the silver dragon uneasily pushed himself to his feet with a loud grunt.

Sorrel watched Ray carefully, and it didn't go unnoticed. Ray studied the wing, shining the flash light and observing the silhouette of the bone against the thin skin of the wing.

"You don't trust me, do you Sorrel?" Ray exhaled.

"What are you talking about?" Sorrel rolled her eyes. "I didn't say anything."

Ray turned his flashlight to the forest floor and made eye contact with Firedrake.

"That's definitely broken. Do you think you can walk, though?"

Firedrake took a few steps, grunting in pain. "I'm alright to walk."

"Good, good," Ray patted Firedrake's mantle. "Listen, I don't live too far away from here. If you want somewhere dry to stay, and away from other humans, I'd be happy to let you stay with me. I've got a lot of land, no close neighbors, and my mom won't be home for a while."

Firedrake and Sorrel looked at each other.

"It's no secret you two are trying to stay hidden."

Firedrake nodded, and Sorrel whispered something to Firedrake.

"That's extremely kind of you. Please, lead the way!" said Firedrake.

"Ha ha, Alright!" Ray cried out. "It's this way, towards the road. Just watch your wing."


	3. Chapter 3

A coyote howled in the distance, startling Ray. He glanced around, and then studied each side of the road carefully. His bike obediently waited, the sounds of metal expanding and contracting crackled off the exhaust pipe.

Satisfied that no vehicles were approaching, he retreated back into the woods. Firedrake leaned up against a tree, and Sorrel held his wing in a more comfortable position. "Okay, there hasn't been a car since I pulled over here," Ray explained. "My house isn't too far down the road, do you think you can walk that far?"

"No problem," Firedrake snorted. "And hey look, the bleeding stopped!"

Ray had run back to his house and fetched some blankets, he and Sorrel applied pressure to his wounds and stopped the bleeding.

Ray knocked the Kawasaki off it's kickstand and held both handlebars.

"Let's go, I'll watch the front, Sorrel you watch the back. If you see anything, get to the side of the road and hide in the ditch, or back in the woods if the trees aren't too thick."

"Alright, human," Sorrel called from Firedrake's back.

"Ray!" He responded.

"Whatever, just go!" Sorrel barked. Ray turned around and looked up at Firedrake. "There's no pleasing her, is there?" He whispered. The dragon shrugged.

"You get used to it."

Ray rolled his bike, at 350 pounds it was no pushover. They had gone about a quarter mile, when Ray could see the light coming from his garage. He turned around.

"See that light? That's it!" Ray shouted, a few paces ahead of them.

"Good, I don't mind the walking but every time I move my wing hurts!" Firedrake laughed.

His Remington bobbed back and forth with every step. The rifle was a birthday present from his Granddad, so that they could go hunting together. It featured tactical rails to add attachments, such as a red dot sight or a scope.

There was something magical about them both. Even though he didn't care much for Sorrel, he still thought she was something amazing. Why they were here, he couldn't say. In the back of his mind, he was terribly afraid that he was dreaming, and hope that this could be real. Ray smiled, feeling content. Everything was about to work out. He could let Firedrake rest until his wing heals, and then...

His smile vanished. Then what? They would leave. But leave to where? He still had so many questions to ask them, but now was not the time.

"Wait, I hear something!" Sorrel shouted. Ray spun around. After a few moments, he could see a speck of light coming in the distance. "There's a gap in the trees on the right side of the road, go!"

Ray pushed his bike to the side of the road, waiting for the car to pass. It began to get closer, and then Ray recognized the familiar headlights.

"It can't be," He said under his breath.

It was his worst fear. The same police officer that had harassed him just an hour ago was now speeding towards him. Ray struggled to push his bike into the ditch in time, but it was too late.

The blue lights flashed, the siren blared twice. The officer threw open his door and aimed his revolver directly at Ray's chest. Ray put his hands up in surrender. "I knew you were up to no good!" He barked. "Drop your weapon, now!"

Ray hesitated, and looked around. He could barely make out Firedrake in the woods to his right. Standing in the middle of the road, Ray gulped.

The officer clicked the hammer on his revolver. "I'll give you one last chance. Drop your weapon, now!" He repeated.

Ray had just begun to unsling the rifle, when he heard heavy footsteps on the grass in between the road and the woods. He turned his head. Firedrake was towering menacingly above them both.

The officer's trembling hands had dropped his revolver.

Firedrake growled threateningly. The police officer let out a yelp and jumped back into his patrol car, turned around, zipped off into the distance for a second time.

Ray looked first at Firedrake, Sorrel was prone on his back, hiding just behind his long neck, keeping his wing up. He glanced then at the revolver, picking it up through his sleeve, as not to leave finger prints, and opened the bell of the revolver, dumping out two rounds and threw them into the woods. Then he noticed a bag filled with a bunch of green shavings. It was marijuana. Ray smiled, and threw the bag off the road. He kicked the handgun into a ditch near to where the hemp had landed.

His heart rate began to decrease, and a familiar sense of adrenaline had faded away.

"Thanks," Ray sighed. And sat down in the middle of the pavement. "They're going to be looking for me, though."

"What do you mean?" Firedrake questioned.

"He's a police officer. They make sure we follow the law," Ray flipped his hair out of his face and unslung his rifle. "He already didn't like me, he almost busted me for smoking underage earlier today. Not only that, but you can't have a gun off of your own property unless you're 18."

""This," Ray gestured to his rifle. "It's a weapon."

"What does it do?" Sorrel shrugged. Ray picked a target, a fence post.

"Okay, watch that fence," Ray responded. Ray took aim down the iron sights, and pulled the trigger. The rifle blasted a .223 round into the fence post, turning it into a bunch of splinters. The Remington R-25 ejected the used shell and fell to the pavement, landing with a metallic clang. Ray picked up the shell before it could roll away and put it in his pocket, in case the police officer came back to find his revolver.

After the crack of the rifle, Sorrel flinched, her sensitive ears overloaded with sound and fell off Firedrake's back. Firedrake shook his head, the blast making his ears ring.

"Good lord!" Sorrel gasped. Ray offered her his hand, but she rejected it and pulled herself up by Firedrake's spines.

"And you were going to use that on us!" She pointed a finger at Ray. Firedrake turned at Ray. "Is that true?" He demanded.

Ray looked at his shoes, which had gone from a clean white to an earth tan. "Yes, but I didn't know what you were after I followed you," He explained. "I wanted to find out what it was that fell out of the sky, but I was scared to go back there without any form of protection."

"Humans are always the same, no matter where you go," Sorrel climbed back onto Firedrake.

"Sorrel, that sounds reasonable to me. But it is true," Firedrake said. "When humans are afraid of something, they destroy it." Firedrake echoed the wise dragon from back in his homeland.

"This isn't really the time or place," Ray stated. "Let me get you both to my house."

Ray lead them up his driveway, clearing some space in the garage and allowing Firedrake to get settled there. He collapsed and curled into a ball, exhausted from the whole ordeal.

Sorrel lay up against him, stroking his scales and cleaning his wounds caused by the trees.

Ray checked his cellphone. Apart from three new text messages, what caught his attention is that it was nearly 2:00 in the morning.

Ray gasped. "I just realized, I have to go study. I'll be gone all day tomorrow, just please don't get yourselves into any trouble."

Firedrake nodded and nuzzled Ray. "Thank you so much, Ray."

"It's nothing, really. Happy to help," he blushed. "Sorrel, if you need anything, my room is the first door on the right upstairs. I'll leave the door unlocked."

He showed sorrel how to open the garage door, so she would be a bit more trusting of him.

Ray had just realized then how tired he was as he climbed the stairs to his room. He sat down at his desk, opening his trigonometry homework. After 45 minutes, he still didn't understand a word of it, but sighed. "Good enough," he murmured. Ray crawled into bed, both excited and anxious. He knew It wasn't the last he'd seen of that police officer.


	4. Chapter 4

Ray awoke to his alarm blaring. Feeling deep pangs of fatigue, he rolled out of bed and jumped into the shower, waking him up. He quickly threw on a pair of clothes and packed his books, then headed downstairs. The TV was on, to his surprise. He saw Sorrel slumped on the coach, obviously asleep.

Ray turned off the TV, noting at the remnants of whatever Sorrel had eaten out of his fridge the previous night. Speaking of that, the sun hadn't even begun to rise. He left Sorrel and continued to the Garage. Ray quietly opened the door, and Firedrake stirred. "Ray?" Firedrake murmured.

Ray flicked on the light and pressed the button to open the garage. "Hey, how's your wing?" He said with concern.

"I'm still in a lot of pain in that area, but otherwise fine," Firedrake said.

Ray paused. Studying the broken wing. "Alright, this is gonna make me late for school, but I should have done this last night anyway." He broke the sticks off of two brooms, and tied several bed sheets together. "Okay, just try to hold your wing up. Firedrake struggled as Ray balanced on his back, trying a splint to hold the broken bone in place. At last, he'd finished. Ray slid off Firedrake's back. "How's that?"

"Much better!" Firedrake licked his lips. "You sure do know a lot."

"Tell that to my teachers," Ray slipped on his motorcycle helmet and pushed his Kawasaki Ninja out of the garage.

"Alright, I'll be back this evening. If you get hungry or anything, can Sorrel take care of that for you?"

"I live off of Moonlight," Firedrake said proudly.

"Moonlight?" Ray reiterated. "Wow. Well, I need to get going, see you later!" Ray revved his engine, speeding down his driveway. "See you," Firedrake mumbled as he watched Ray ride down the driveway under the closing garage door.

Ray fought the traffic and found a parking spot at his school. Everything went fine up until fourth period.

"Can I have Raymond Sokolov to the front office, please?" The loud speaker in his classroom crackled. "Ray, get going," His teacher turned a page in his book as the rest of the class continued to take a quiz.

Anxiously, he marched the concrete block walls until he had reached the front office.

"Hey, I'm Ray," He told the receptionist. She pointed to a door at his right. He entered, and then his adrenaline spiked.

"Well hello there, son." It was the police officer from the night before, along with another police man. Ray caught the name on his badge, Officer Sir. Ray stifled a laugh.

"Take a seat," Mr. Harrison, the school counselor, said.

Ray sat down, and kept his cool. He made himself seem confused, and asked why he was here.

"Did you see this young man last night as you described to me?" Mr. Harrison asked Officer Sir.

"Yes, this is the boy, no doubt," Officer Sir replied. "I ran his license plate and this is him."

"Well?" Said the counselor. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Ray paused, then remembered his plan. He took out two bullets in the officer's revolver, just in case he needed to work in a story.

"Well, he did stop me last night," Ray nodded. "The first time, he had accused me of smoking, which I wasn't. I work at a motorcycle shop after school. My Boss and a lot of his clients smoke, so the smell must have rubbed off on me. My boss will confirm that if you want."

"Er, first time?" asked Mr. Harrison. Officer sir turned bright red.

"I saw him twice that night," Ray said. Officer Sir and his companion exchanged glances. "I told you, what I saw was real," Officer sir whispered to the other police man just loud enough for Ray's young ears to hear.

"Well, up the street from my house, I heard a gunshot go off," Ray forced himself to speak as calmly as he could.

"Uh-huh," Mr. Harrison shot the officers a puzzled look.

"So I went out to investigate, I was afraid maybe someone had broken into my neighbor's house. I grabbed my rifle, which I do have a permit for and it is registered, by the way," He looked at the officers, then back to Mr. Harrison.

"I drive my motorcycle and in the middle of the road, I see this guy," Ray pointed at Officer Sir, "Sitting on the hood of his car, and holding his gun, and I could see a lit joint in his hand"

"Really?" Mr. Harrison's eyes widened. "What happened next?"

"That's a lie!" Officer Sir shouted angrily. Mr Harrison shushed him and repeated his question.

"I was just getting to that," Ray answered. "He saw me, and screamed something about seeing a dragon, or some sort of creature. I asked him if he was alright, and I came over and tried to help him, but he pulled the gun on me and told me to put my hands up. So I did."

Mr. Harrison had a slightly angry expression now. "Oh really?"

"Really," Ray repeated. "He saw something and freaked, he dropped his gun and got back in his car and sped off."

"Is that all?" Mr. Harrison asked. Ray nodded. "Well, hearing both sides of the story, Ray's side adds up, however yours does not," he faced the officers.

"What?" Officer Sir cried. "You're going to listen to this kid, instead of a police officer?"

"Can I interrupt for a moment?" Ray said. "Why don't you have him take a drug test before you question me any further."

Officer Sir's eyes widened. Ray smiled at him, the glance that was returned was a death glare.

"No! I won't take a drug test. This is absolutely ridiculous, listening to a kid instead of an police man."

"Why are you afraid of taking a drug test?" Mr. Harrison sighed. "Suspicious."

The room sat silent. All eyes were on Officer Sir, including the ones from his companion.

"Alright, fine!" He admitted. "I had smoked some marijuana that night, okay?"

"My, my," Mr. Harrison said. "Now this, I believe. Ray has a clean criminal record, as well as a clean disciplinary record."

The other officer put Officer Sir in handcuffs and escorted him off the school premises, charged with Possession of Illegal Narcotics and Falsifying Information.

"Ray, you can return to class. I'm sorry you got mixed up in this whole deal."

"That's alright, I'm just glad I was able to miss my quiz," Ray rebutted as he left Mr. Harrison's office.

He triumphantly walked back to class. Because of his quick thinking, he had protected Firedrake from being discovered. It was lucky that officer had a drug problem, or else there would have been trouble.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Wake up, boy!" Bob hollered. A wad of paper bounced off of Ray's forehead. Ray opened his eyes, shaking the sleep out of his head.

He scanned the room. His boss, Bob, was staring him down. Bob was a big guy, his nick name being Big Bob. Usually you had to be to run a chop shop. He was so bald, you could shine a flashlight on his head and it would reflect on the ceiling. Big and muscular, his goatee made sure you knew he was a biker.

Ray arose from the break room couch. "Sorry, Bob," Ray thought of an excuse. "What's wrong with you, Ray?" Bob yelled. Bob didn't mean to yell, he just always sounded like he was screaming at the top of his lungs whenever he spoke.

"I don't know," Ray sat back down. "I'm just real tired. I was up all night studying for my trigonometry test last night."

"Triggawhatsit now?" Bob inquired.

"Uh, never mind," Ray yawned.

"That's why I stopped goin da' school when I was your age," Bob puffed out his chest proudly. "And look at me now! Ray, if you wanna be as successful as me, you should think about dropping out and starting a business."

Ray held back some laughter, as he could tell Bob was completely serious.

"No thanks, Bob. I think I'm gonna stick with it."

"That's a shame, I think you could pull up a chop shop almost as good as mine," He laughed.

Bob sat down in a folding chair across from Ray. "Listen Ray, I can tell you're tired. Tell you what, I've got Jimmy and Garrett here this afternoon, you can take the rest of the day off."

"Thanks, Bob," Ray said. He took his helmet and backpack out of his locker and headed towards the door.

"Just don't go fallin' asleep on the interstate, okay?" Bob called as Ray left.

Ray checked his phone. It was 4 o'clock. Firedrake and Sorrel had been on his mind all day. What if he returned home and they were gone? What if they had been discovered somehow?

"Nah, who would be at my house?" Ray thought to himself and he walked towards his motorcycle. He was still a bit paranoid about Officer Sir, but Ray was told he was going to be discharged and sent to rehab.

After a familiar ride home, minus the rush hour, Ray finally reached his house. He drove up the long driveway, and drove back to his garage, a bit anxious.

He pushed his garage door opener. Slowly, the garage door opened. Ray gave a sigh of relief. Firedrake awoke slowly, and let out a yawn. He stretched, and put his head up, hitting it on the ceiling. Ray parked his motorcycle, and removed his helmet.

"Hey, were you sleeping?" Ray asked. Firedrake looked at his splinted wing and then at Ray. "Yes, sorry, I should have mentioned that I'm nocturnal."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Ray replied. "I'll park my motorcycle outside from now on."

Ray sat down on a box and yawned. "Where's Sorrel?"

Firedrake yawned. "I don't know, I haven't seen her all day."

"That can't be good," Ray muttered. "I'm going to go inside, are you going back to sleep?" Ray asked.

"No, I couldn't sleep now at the moment," Firedrake responded.

"Okay then, I'll be right back," Ray slipped out the door and walked into the kitchen. Drawers were open, bits of food were scattered around, just as Ray had seen in the living room earlier that day. Ray opened his fridge, it was a mess. Half of his food was gone, and the other half was half eaten or spilled.

Astonished, he went back to the living room. The TV was on, doors were opened, and water was running in the bathroom sink.

"What the hell?" Ray gasped.

His house was a complete mess. Living on his own most of the time, it was hard to keep it clean with no one to tell him to.

Ray glanced at the couch. There Sorrel was, sleeping yet again.

He felt angry, but was too tired to do anything about it. He dropped his backpack in his room, and came back downstairs to the garage. He decided he'd have to deal with the mess later.

"So, I thought maybe after spending a day in here alone, you'd get pretty bored, Firedrake," Ray said, sitting down on the same box.

"Yeah," Firedrake replied. "Thanks, it gets kind of lonely in here."

Ray looked around the garage. He had so many questions to ask, but where to start?

"So," he looked at his shoes. "Where are you from?"

Firedrake thought for a moment. "I used to live in a rather wet area of Europe," he said. "But then because some humans threatened to flood our valley, we had to move to the tallest mountain range in the world."

"The Himalayas?" Ray asked. Firedrake nodded. "Wait, we? So there's more of you?"

"Oh yes," Firedrake said. "But the Dragon population has dwindled so much over the past few hundred years, I wasn't born yet, but my kind were almost hunted to extinction by humans that wore suits of armor."

"That was more than five hundred years ago," Ray said. "So Dragons have been in hiding since then?"

"That's right." Ray gave Firedrake a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Firedrake."

"I am too," He replied.

"Well, why did you come all the way out here?"

Firedrake looked puzzled. "Out here?"

Ray paused. "You mean, you don't know where you are?"

"Nope," Firedrake said, looking a bit worried.

"Hold on, I'll be right back." Ray got up and ran to his room, unpinning his world map of the wall and rolling it up. He returned to the garage and spread the map on the floor.

"Okay, so this is the Himalayas," Ray put his finger on the map where the Himalayas were. "And this is where we are now." Ray traced his finger all the way to Georgia in the United States. Firedrake watched closely, not recognizing most shapes of land on the map, but some looked familiar. He recalled the Rat's map, and then Ben, whom he thought of often.

"The Himalayas are thousands of miles away. You must fly fast," Ray said.

Firedrake felt in shock. "Er, what?" He cried. Distressed, Firedrake stood up, making sure not to bump his head on the low ceiling. "How is that even possible?"

"You mean, you didn't mean to come here?"

"No!" Firedrake exclaimed. "I don't know how I got all the way out here, it was only one night!"

"Calm down," Ray said. "I'm sure there's a logical-"

"What's going on in here?" Sorrel growled, poking her head out from the doorway. "Oh, another map. Wonderful."

Firedrake explained the situation to Sorrel, who reacted in quite the same way.

"Calm down you two, and tell me what happened," Ray cooed.

"Okay, I remember we were flying over the mountains," Firedrake said. "And then there was this incredible windstorm. It spun me around so fast everything was a blur."

"After he stopped mindlessly being tossed by the wind," Sorrel continued. "There weren't any mountains below us anymore. It was a bunch of trees!" She quivered.

"I don't know what to say about that. The only thing that could travel that far and that fast in one night is a plane. When I saw you flying across the sky, you looked like you were disorientated," Ray stated.

"I wish I could tell you why you're here, but I just don't know."

The three sat quietly, Firedrake and Sorrel in complete shock.

"How are we going to get home?" Sorrel said at last.

"Ben would know what to do."

"Ben? Is that another dragon?" Ray asked.

Firedrake and Sorrel exchanged glances, and then they told Ray a story. It was a story of boy named Ben, who was much younger than Ray at the time, although it had been a few years. They had found Ben as an orphan in London, and then Ben helped them get to the Rim of Heaven. They had a run in with Mountain Dwarves, a Djinn, and a Sea Serpent. Not to mention, the evil Nettlebrand. It took about an hour to tell Ray the whole story, and Ray's jaw dropped the entire time. They were careful to leave out a few details, still not sure if they could trust Ray completely.

Speechless, Ray looked up at Firedrake. "That sounded like an awesome adventure."

"It was," Sorrel replied. "A bit too many surprises for my taste, but it was fun. It was for our survival, though."

"That's right," Firedrake added. "There's just one more thing. After Ben left, I told him I'd visit him. I assume he lives in England with the Greenblooms now, but they haven't contacted us since we parted ways."

"Oh," Ray sighed. Ray thought for a moment, and then had an idea. "What if I was able to find him for you?"

"What?" Firedrake gasped.

"You could do something like that?" Sorrel said. "But isn't he on the other side of the world from here?"

"Sure," Ray replied. "It's not hard, just as long as he or that Professor Greenbloom guy or Ben is listed anywhere on the internet." Ray fished his laptop out of his backpack and opened it up, letting out a yawn. Even though all the excitement, he was still exhausted.

He started up his laptop, the Apple logo on the back and the screen coming to life. "I remember that," Sorrel said, watching the blue screen turn into his desktop. "It's a, uh-" "A computer," Ray answered.

His computer finished starting up, and now the Dragon was bending over his shoulder, watching as Ray pulled up Google.

"Okay, so what's this guy's name?" Ray asked. "Ben Greenbloom?"

Firedrake nodded. "Yes, try that."

Ray typed in "Ben Greenbloom." Several results came up, there was one for Facebook, a popular social networking site. He clicked on the Facebook link, his access to it was limited, but there was a profile picture. It was a boy who looked about the same age as Ray, but with long, black hair and chiseled features.

"Is that him?" Ray zoomed in on the photo.

Firedrake was speechless. "That's him!"

"Is it really that easy to find anyone on the face of the Earth?" Sorrel asked.

"Sometimes, you just have to know their full name and a few other things," Ray flipped his hair out of his face.

"Okay, his phone number's not listed," Ray said as he friend requested Ben. He added a note to his request.

"Hey Ben, you don't know me, and I'm not sure if I have the right person. Does the name Firedrake mean anything to you?"

"Now, we just have to wait and see if he replies to me," Ray declared.

"Well, how long could that take?" Sorrel questioned.

"I don't know, he's in a different time zone, and some people don't log onto Facebook too often. We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I'll see if I can find anything on the Professor. What's his first name?"

Sorrel paused and looked at Firedrake. "Do you remember his first name? I remember his wife calling him something, but what?"

"I can't remember," Firedrake said. "We always just called him the professor."

"Let's hope we have the right Ben, then," said Ray. "Listen, I'm exhausted and I didn't get too much sleep last night." Ray closed his laptop and headed to the door. "Oh and Sorrel, stop eating all my food. My house is in a mess, and I don't have enough time to clean that up."

Ray walked away, and he heard Firedrake's firm voice. "You did what?"

He felt a certain satisfaction knowing Sorrel was getting scolded by Firedrake.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It had been three days since Firedrake had crash landed near to Ray's house.

Ray was finishing up his school term, he only had a week left. For now, it was the weekend. He explained to Firedrake what school was, and the days he had to go there. He was off work for the weekend, too.

A few of his friends had come over, but luckily the garage door was closed and Ray told them he couldn't do anything. Ray let out a sigh of relief as he closed the door, watching his friends ride down the long driveway on their motorcycles.

"They're gone, Sorrel," Ray called as he picked up a vacuum cleaner. Sorrel got back to sweeping up the mess she made eating all of Ray's food.

Ray turned off the vacuum cleaner and put it away. "You done?" Ray asked.

"I guess so," She tied a bag of trash, as Ray had showed her how to do. Ray grabbed the bag and heaved it over his shoulder, and dumped it into the trash can out by the garage.

He opened the garage door, and Sorrel followed him inside. Firedrake was sleeping, and Sorrel curled into a ball next to him.

"Thanks, Sorrel," Ray smiled and flashed a thumbs up. He could see Sorrel smile, but then quickly drew it back and buried her head in her furry arms. She was beginning to trust him, he was sure.

Ray trudged back into his house through the heat, and settled onto the couch in a familiar, air conditioned state. He opened his laptop and checked his Facebook for the millionth time.

He had three new notifications. One was irrelevant, but two stuck out.

"Ben Greenbloom has accepted your friend request." Ray's heart began to pound.

"New message from Ben Greenbloom."

He clicked the message, it was sent an hour ago.

"Call me as soon as you get this message." The message listed his phone number.

Ray's heart stopped. He took his phone off the coffee table and dialed the number.

After a few rings, someone picked up.

"Hello?" A masculine, British voice answered.

"Hey," Ray said. "This is Ray."

"Hi Ray, " The voice answered. "This is Ben. I got your message on Facebook."

"Yeah," Ray scratched his head. "So do I... Do I have the right person? Does the name Firedrake or Sorrel mean anything to you?"

The line was silent for a moment. "It means the world to me, actually."

"I know, Ben. They told me that story."

"They told you how we met? And the how we got to the Rim of Heaven?" Ben said.

"Yeah, but Sorrel was keen to make sure they left out a lot of the fun details. I don't think she trusts me too much."

"How are they at your house? Where do you live, in America, right?"

"Yep," Ray replied, suddenly noticing his southern accent up against Ben's British accent.

"I don't know, man. I was driving home one night on my motorcycle, and I see something flying across the sky. It crash lands in some trees, and I go investigate. Next thing I know, I'm leading them back to my house."

"Did they say why they're there?" Ben panted.

"Firedrake said he was caught in a wind storm one night, then he ended up here all dizzy, and crashed. That's what they've told me."

"Are they alright?"

"Firedrake broke his wing, but don't worry. I put it in a splint. Sorrel's fine."

Ben sighed and was silent for sometime, taking all this in.

"I lost contact with the monks in China. I thought I would never get to see them again. Does anyone else know they're here?"

"No," Ray responded. "My parents are divorced and separate, and my Mom is gone for the whole summer. We've had a few close calls with the police, though. It's just me and them."

"Ben, did he call yet?" An adult voice echoed in the background. Ray could tell he was put on speaker. "Yes, hello. My name is Barnabas Greenbloom, who am I speaking with?"

Ray told him his name, and Ben updated him on the situation.

"Remarkable, a windstorm, you say?" Professor Greenbloom said.

"You're a professor, they told me. What would your explanation be for that?"

"I'm no meteorologist," Greenbloom laughed. "I'm an archaeologist. No idea strikes me. If I could get some more details about it, maybe I could figure this phenomena out."

"Yes, can you put them on speaker please?" Ben said.

"Well, I just left my garage and they're both sleeping. Firedrake said he's nocturnal because of the moonlight thing," Ray replied. "Should I go wake them up?" "Oh, you needn't do that," the professor said. "Listen, I'll go see what I can find on any wind activity in that area, in the meantime. Just give us a call after they wake up, okay?"

"Okay," Ray said. "I will, I promise. Do you have Skype? I could put us on video chat."

"Sure," Ben responded. Ray and Ben exchanged Skype usernames. "It gets dark here at around nine o'clock, and you're four hours or so ahead."

"We'll be up. Bye, Ray," Ben answered. The line clicked and Ben hung up.

Ray stared at his computer screen. He couldn't believe how excited Firedrake was going to be. He could imagine what a difference this was going to make in getting Firedrake and Sorrel home.

Ray sat back on his couch, day dreaming about dragons flying around the mountains of the himalayas. He could see himself riding one, Firedrake in this instance. Ray had never left the country, and rarely left Georgia. The farthest away from home he'd ever been was in Michigan.

Suddenly, interrupting his train of thought, his phone rang. He checked the caller I.D. Big Bob.

Ray answered immediately. "Hey, Bob."

"Ray! I need you to get down here to the shop, pronto!"

"But I thought you told me I could take the weekend off?" Ray said.

"Yeah, I did. Jimmy called in sick and Garret quit. I have to run down to Macon and pick up a new shipment of parts, and it'll take the rest of the day. I've got no one else I can turn to, Ray. Can you do this for me?"

Ray paused for a minute. It's not like he could say no, Bob would probably fire him.

"Sure, Bob. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks, Ray. I owe you one, big time," Bob hung up.

Ray sighed, and got up from the couch, changing into a collared shirt. He grabbed his backpack with his laptop and stepped out onto his porch. He looked towards the garage. Should he go in and wake them up, and tell them that he has to leave?

No, he wouldn't be gone for too long anyway. Bob would surely let him off before nightfall. Ray put his helmet on and flipped down the visor. He slipped into his motorcycle jacket, even though it was well over ninety degrees. He paced towards the garage, and peered in through a dusty window. The pair were still fast asleep. He was just starting to get on Sorrel's good side, If only he could leave a note.

Ray mounted his bike and drove out of the driveway, and headed towards the interstate. After fifteen minutes of disregarding all speed limit signs, he made it to Bob's Custom Cycles, and not a minute too soon. Bob was waiting out front, already in his truck. "You're a life saver, Ray!" Bob shouted as Ray parked.

"Just man the cash register, and I'm expecting a few people to come and drop off their bikes for servicing."

"I can handle it, Bob."

"Atta' boy, Ray, see you when I get back." Bob pulled out of the parking lot and drove off.

Ray took a seat up at the cash register, surrounded by Motorcycle parts and gear hanging on the shelves. After twenty minutes with no customers, Ray took out his laptop.

Several hours had passed, and the two people who had bikes to drop off that day had come as planned. Where was Bob, though?

Ray checked the time. It was 7:30, he was beginning to see the evening sun reflect off of the Westin in the distance.

Ray pulled out his phone and called Bob. Bob answered at the second ring. "Hey Ray, how's everything holding up in Atlanta?"

"Every thing's fine, Bob. I put the bikes dropped off in the back, and a few people have come in."

"Uh-huh," Bob replied. "So, is something bothering you?"

"Kind of," Ray picked his words carefully. "I kind of needed to be home by dark, I had some things I had to do.

"Oh, what kind of things?"

"Um," Ray didn't like to have to lie to his boss. "I had some yard work that needed to be done, I was hoping to get home and finish that before tonight."

"I see," Bob said. I'm still in Macon, we're packing up my truck and trailer good and tight. If you really need to go, you've got the keys. You lock up tonight, and I'll see you on Monday."

"Sure, Bob. I'll catch you Monday."

Ray hung up, feeling a bit less anxious. However, Atlanta traffic on a saturday night was a force to be reckoned with. He had a three strikes on his license for running a stop sign and a few red lights. He couldn't afford another, or he would lose his license.

Ray waited until 7: 45, after his last customer left. After he finished locking up, he got back on his motorcycle, putting a pack of cigarettes he'd found under the break room couch in his glovebox.

The sun was beginning to set, Firedrake and Sorrel would no doubt be up soon. He wanted to be there just as they were getting up, so they could hear the news about Ben first thing.

It was as humid as a rainy day, and hotter than the desert. Ray pulled over and put his jacket under the seat, riding in a T-Shirt. It was much more comfortable, but he was more exposed. Ray had never crashed before, and was confident in his ability not to.

Ray approached a red light and pulled the brakes. The light went green, and he slowly pushed ahead, the first in line.

Suddenly, in the lane ahead of him, an SUV smashed into a sedan. Car parts and debris flew everywhere. Ray tried to brake, but it was too late. The front of his bike collided with the crunched sedan. He tried to hang onto his bike, but the sheer force knocked him over the roof of the sedan, his foot catching and causing him to do a cartwheel. He landed on the other side of the pavement, rolling across the road, suffering a hard road rash. His bike was soon to follow. It rolled several times and skidded to a stop on it's side, leaving a trail of sparks.

Ray felt extreme pain in his arms and the side of his head. He was in a state of shock. He tried to cry out, but couldn't. He tried to get up and move, but shell shock kept him rooted to the ground. He stared up at the sky, slowly turning to night. After a few moments, a man came to Ray's aid.

"Don't move!" He said. Ray glanced at his chest and arms. He wasn't sure if he broke anything, but he was laying in a pool of his own blood. Ray didn't know if it was the blood loss or if it was because he'd hit his head, but he began to drift away, everything was fading into black. He thought of Firedrake and Sorrel. What was to happen to them?

Ray lost consciousness as sirens began to approach the crash zone.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Ray awoke with a start, sitting up in the hospital bed. A tube was hooked into his wrist, attached to a clear bag holding a red substance. His first instinct was to rip the cord in his wrist out, but thought better of it.

He was in an observation room, his only privacy a translucent curtain.

One of the doctors must have seen him stirring, and came in wearing a surgical mask. He removed it and introduced himself as Doctor Morgan.

"You suffered a minor concussion due to your helmet being a bit loose, and a lot of blood loss."

Ray took notice to his arms, which were bandaged. Doctor Morgan removed the thick bandaging. Down to his elbows, both his arms were sewn shut. "There was a lot of skin loss, but we were able to implant some donated skin and muscle tissue. You should have decent use of your arms though, can you give them a try?"

Ray moved his arms in circles. He felt some strain where the stitches were, but otherwise felt fine. He felt many bruises of impact from when he rolled, but it was the roll that had prevented any broken bones.

"How long has it been since the crash?" Ray asked.

"It's been about two days," Doctor Morgan replied.

"What?" Ray gasped, standing up out of his bed, still connected to the tube. "Two days? I have to get home!"

"Stay calm, we'll get you home today. Your mother has been informed and she wants you to call her. We had to put you into a medically induced coma so we could stitch you and your wounds would seal."

"Where's my bike?"

"It's in an impound lot, but rest assured we'll get it home with you today. We've already spoken to your insurance company and they're delivering a bike here, so you can ride home if you're up for it."

The doctor put Ray on an anesthesia and removed the bag containing donated blood.

Ray gave a call to his mother, insisting that he was fine and that she didn't need to come home from her "business" trip in California.

The hospital returned his things. Ray's clothes were tattered and bloodstained, but the hospital had a replacement pair ready for him. Miraculously, his laptop had survived and still had some battery power left. He opened it and connected to the hospital's wireless network.

The first thing he did was log onto facebook. He had 34 new notifications, Someone must have found out about his crash, and had "get well soon" variants tattooed on his wall repeatedly. He looked for any thing from Ben. There was one private message.

"Hey Ray, what happened? I hope you didn't forget, give me a call when you can."

It was dated from yesterday morning.

Ray recovered his phone. It had a cracked screen, but was otherwise working. It was out of battery and wouldn't start up fully, and Ray couldn't charge it until he got home. For now, he sent a reply to Ben.

"I got into an accident Saturday night. I'm in the hospital, but I'll be home today. My phone's dead, so I can't call you until later."

He packed his things and walked to the front of the hospital, thanking Doctor Morgan and the hospital staff for making everything go swift and painless.

A white delivery truck pulled into the hospital parking lot. Doctor Morgan stayed with Ray as they rolled a new, black Kawasaki Ninja off the back of the truck. A new, black helmet was hanging on one of the handlebars.

Ray almost fainted. "Woah," He gasped.

Ray looked up the number on his laptop and borrowed Doctor Morgan's phone, signing for the delivery as the truck pulled away.

Ray called his insurance agency. "By our records, it seems that your Kawasaki Ninja was totaled in a crash a few days ago, we had the new one sent to the hospital, did you receive it, yet?" A female voice said.

"Yes, I just got it. Where's my old bike, though?" The woman explained it was in an impound lot, where he could either pick it up or do nothing, and it would be taken to the junk yard.

Ray finished with the insurance company, and gave Doctor Morgan's phone back so he could return to work. "Be careful, now," He said.

Ray studied the new bike. It was identical to his old one, except this one was two years newer. There were a few different things here and there. Everything was clean and spotless, a "virgin" bike. The odometer was at 11 miles, probably only for testing after it was made. The 500cc chrome engine was ready to run.

Ray took a look at the bike and nodded, now feeling overjoyed. If he'd gained anything out of this, at least he could say this would be worth it.

Ray sat on the soft, leather seat. It still had the smell of something new, which made Ray smile. Ray stuck the key in the ignition, and it roared defiantly. Cautiously, he rode his new bike out of the hospital parking lot, reflecting on how lucky he was.

Then he focused on something he'd been trying not to focus on. Would Firedrake and Sorrel still be back at his house? Suppose someone went there and found them out?

Ray was worried, but tried to be optimistic. And what of Ben? Hopefully he wasn't too worried. Ray frowned as he pulled into the parking lot of the impound lot.

He was led back to his totaled bike. The front wheel was gone, and it was totally massacred. The headlight dangled from the frame, like an eye out of an eye socket.

the back wheel was bent, and a silver pinstripe screeched down the orange frame.

Ray forced open the seat compartment with a crowbar and retrieved his jacket. A box of cigarettes fell to the feet of the employee escorting him.

He looked at it for a moment, and then picked it up.

"Aren't you a bit young?" He said to Ray.

"Please, don't get into this with me. You can throw them away, you can keep them, just don't make a big deal out of this, please," Ray begged.

The man thought for a moment, and handed the cigarettes to Ray. "They give you cancer, you know."

Ray signed some papers authorizing the impound lot to junk the totaled bike, and drove back up the interstate to his house.

His mind was racing on school, on Firedrake, and on his job. Since his phone wouldn't start up fully, he couldn't see what calls and texts he'd missed.

Ray made sure to wear his jacket his time, though. The seams of the stitches rubbed against the inside of his jacket, constantly reminding him of what happened. He tried to remember the crash, but it was all a blur. The only thing he remembered was staring up at a african american man, he yelled "Don't move!" in his face.

Ray pulled onto the country road, again realizing how lucky he was not to have broken anything, and to have a new bike at that. The sun was high in the sky, it was maybe noon. Ray would miss school today, but he had to go tomorrow for the first of his final exams for that year.

Ray pulled into the driveway. It was the moment of truth.

To his horror, the garage was open and empty. He parked next to his garage, and looked around frantically, removing his helmet. His backdoor was open, maybe Sorrel was still here somewhere. He ran into his house. "Sorrel!" He called. His house was empty.

He ran back out to the garage. Ray sat down on a crate, trying to think of where they could possibly be.

He patted across the grass, and saw footprints that could only belong to a dragon. When he rounded the side of his house, he let out a sigh of relief.

Sorrel and Firedrake were laying in the shade of a large oak tree together.

Ray hobbled over to them, cursing the bruises all over his hips and back.

He gently walked over to Firedrake and gently shook his head. "Pst, wake up!"

Firedrake murmured and slowly rose, shaking himself. "Ray?" Firedrake looked astonished. "What happened to you?" Firedrake studied the stitches on his arms, and sniffed the seams keeping his skin together.

"I got into an accident two days ago," Ray sat down on the grass. "I had to go to work that night, I would have told you, but you were sleeping."

"You should have woke me up, you had me worried," Firedrake affectionately nuzzled Ray. "I appreciate your concern, Firedrake. But I'm fine, it'll be a while before my arms heal completely, though."

Firedrake lay down closer to Ray, and revealed a dragon's secret to him.

"So you know about dragon fire, right?" Firedrake said. "Well, what if I told you dragon fire healed, rather than burned flesh?"

"I would say you're crazy, but you're a dragon so it must be true."

Firedrake moved his head closer to Ray. "Let me try and blow fire on you, I've never tried this on a human, but it should heal you."

Ray agreed, and Firedrake blew a small flame onto Ray's arms. Ray felt a cold, but welcoming felling all throughout his body. Instantly, the seams of the stitches undid themselves and fell to the ground. His bruises disappeared, his entire body began to feel like it was asleep.

Firedrake stopped blowing fire on Ray and checked him all around.

Ray stood up, running his hand down both of his arms. His skin was silky smooth, and he didn't feel the constant, dull pain of the bruising. Strange enough, his breathing had improved. But then, Ray remembered what the man at the impound lot said.

"They'll give you cancer, though."

Cigarettes were making him sick. It was because the dragon fire had actually put him in a perfect state of health that he could realize this.

Ray took off his shirt and looked down at where some other stitching and bruises used to be, incredulous.

"That's amazing!" Ray exclaimed. "Firedrake, thank you! Thank you so much!" He wrapped his arms around the dragon.

"Hey wait," Ray said. "If dragon fire heals, couldn't you heal your own wing?"

Firedrake glanced at his splinted wing. "Ha ha, unfortunately it doesn't work like that. It can work on other creatures, but not myself."

"Oh," Ray said, sadly. He should have known, though.

Sorrel let out a snore, Firedrake and Ray sat back in the shade next to her. The heat made Ray drowsy, he laid up against Firedrake and fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Ray felt a cool breeze blow on his face and woke up. He was laying up against Firedrake, who was still asleep. Sorrel was gone, however. It was closer to the evening now. He stood up and stretched, letting Firedrake sleep. He walked across his backyard and back onto his porch. Ray entered his house, and sure enough Sorrel, was in his fridge.

"Sorrel?" Ray grunted.

She spun around. "Oh, hey?" She backed away nervously.

"You're more than welcome to eat anything, but just leave some for me and don't leave a mess alright?" Ray stated.

Ray plugged his phone in and turned it on, then turned to Sorrel. He explained what had happened and where he'd been. "So, it really does work on humans, then," She said. "All this time I've been wondering."

"Do dragons do that to heal each other?" Ray said.

"All the time, actually," Sorrel responded. "I've been healed once when I broke my arm."

"So where's this new motorcycle, or whatever it's called, of yours?" Sorrel crossed her arms. Ray lead her to the garage. "Check it out."

"How fast can it go?" Sorrel asked. "

Really fast, up to two hundred miles per hour," Ray said.

Ray pulled it out of the garage and let Sorrel sit on it. "How could you even keep your balance on it, anyway?" She said as she tried to keep her balance off of the kickstand.

"You just," Ray paused. "You just do it. And it's something you'll never forget after you can."

"Can I try it?"

"Uh.. I," Ray stammered. "I couldn't really afford for you to scratch it up or crash it right now. I can take you for a ride on the back of it, though."

"Sound dangerous, based on what you told me," Sorrel replied.

"Yeah, but I'm a real good driver. You'd have to put on some clothes on though if you want to."

Sorrel thought for a minute. "I'll stink of humans for days, but okay."

Ray grabbed some clothes and shoes for her. She slipped into them, and Ray gave her his spare helmet.

He fastened it on for her and flipped down the visor, then turned the key in the motorcycle. "Let's go!" He shouted over the engine. Sorrel hesitantly got on the back of the motorcycle. "Okay, put your arms around me and hang on," Ray said.

Sorrel did as she was told, and Ray slowly drove down the driveway.

"Don't go too fast, please," She told Ray. Unfortunately for her, that's something Ray heard too many times.

He turned off of the country road, and pinned the throttle. Sorrel held onto Ray for dear life. She was screaming in fear, but Ray was laughing hysterically. He hadn't put this bike to the test yet. It accelerated faster than his old bike, and rode much smoother as well, even with two people on it. He drove side to side in between the dotted line separating the lanes of the street.

Sorrel dug her claws into Ray, but he ignored the pain. She chattered on and on for Ray to stop, but he kept going. He hit ninety miles per hour, climbing every so slowly due to the extra weight of a passenger.

The front wheel wanted to lift up, but Ray pushed it back down. He shifted all his weight forward, away from a panicking Sorrel. Sorrel leaned with him, about to drop dead. The needle dangled between one hundred and a hundred and ten, and refused to climb any further due to the excessive weight. At this point the world around him began to blur.

Ray laughed, and let go of the throttle. He cruised until he came to a safe speed, and turned around, driving casually back to his house. He pulled up the long driveway, let down the kickstand, and killed the engine.

"So, how'd you like it?" Ray turned around. Sorrel was trembling. She got off the motorcycle, not even removing the helmet or clothing, and sat down up against the wall of Ray's garage.

"Sorrel?" Ray laughed. Sorrel looked up at Ray. She pointed her finger at him. "Never. Again."

Sorrel closed her eyes. Ray burst out laughing. "Consider us even for the food and the mess you made the other day," he grinned.

The sky was turning dark, and the moon was starting to come into view. Ray parked his motorcycle closer to his garage and put a rain cover over it, weighting it down with a few rocks. He did have a car, but he preferred to drive his motorcycle and only drove his blue, beat up Honda Civic when it was raining or winter. He parked his motorcycle next to his car, which had a thick film of pollen on it from disuse.

Ray heard heavy footsteps coming across the grass and turned around. They must have woken Firedrake up. Firedrake took one look at Sorrel sprawled out on the ground, wearing a helmet and clothes, and then back at Ray and his new bike. He seemed to have figured it out what just happened.

"What did I miss, Ray?" Firedrake laughed.

"Oh, nothing much," Ray removed his helmet. "Come on, get up Sorrel."

Ray stuck out his hand and pulled Sorrel to her feet. He removed her helmet and set it down in the garage. She slipped out of Ray's clothes and handed them to him, which he tucked under his arm. Ray put his clothes on the kitchen counter and recovered his fully charged phone. He had over thirty new text messages and many, many missed calls. Then his eyes went wide. "I forgot about Ben!" Ray thought. He went to his call history and found Ben's number, grabbed his laptop, then ran back outside. "Hey, I forgot to tell you both!" Ray panted as he sat down in the grass of his backyard. "I talked to Ben before I got into the accident two days ago."

"What?" Firedrake and Sorrel said simultaneously.

"What did he say?" Firedrake craned his neck out to Ray. "Does he still live with the Greenblooms?"

"Did he ever try to come find us?" Sorrel asked.

They bombarded Ray with questions, ones that he didn't know the answer to. "How about you ask him yourself?" Ray set his laptop down on a glass patio table and logged onto Skype. He saw that Ben was online. Ray requested a video chat, and Ben immediately accepted the request.

An image of a pale, skinny teenager with dark hair appeared on the screen.

"Ray!" Ben cried. "What happened to you? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Ray replied. "I had some stitches done, but Firedrake healed me."

"That's great!. Where are they at?" Ben responded eagerly.

Ray turned his laptop, the built in webcam was now positioned looking at Firedrake and Sorrel. Ray made the video of Ben full screen so they could see it better.

"Ben!" Firedrake gasped.

"Firedrake, I missed you guys!" Ben wiped a tear off his face.

"You're looking taller, Ben," Sorrel blushed.

"Sorrel, I didn't forget about you!" He laughed. "You look," He paused. "You look about the same height."

Sorrel laughed.

Ray was ecstatic he was able to get them together again. Maybe not physically, but through the internet it was almost like he was here. They still hadn't really touched the subject of getting the pair back home, but Ray supposed they'd cross that bridge when they come to it.

"Ah, Ben!" Barnabas chimed in as he pulled up a chair next to Ben and set a small, human like creature down on the table next to him. "I see Ray's gotten in touch with you. Hello, Ray!" The professor waved.

"Hey, Professor."

"My dear dragon and brownie, good to see you again!" Barnabas said.

"Likewise, professor," Firedrake said.

Ray watched the small, human-like creature standing on the desk next to Ben. "Um," Ray tried to pick his words carefully, trying not to offend anyone.

"Oh!" Ben exclaimed. "Ray, this is Twigleg, Twigleg this is Ray."

"It's a pleasure," Twigleg looked up at the screen.

"Same here," Ray laughed. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you?"

"Well, you might say I'm a toy human," He said. "I'm a homunculus, created by an alchemist back in the middle ages."

"You must be over four hundred, then," Ray said.

"Oh yes, but I spent a good bit of it being a-" Twigleg stopped. "Never mind. Ah yes, glad to see you're both alright, Firedrake, Sorrel."

Firedrake, Sorrel, Barnabas, Ben, and Twigleg chattered on, catching up on the past seven years they'd been apart. Ray began to space out, thinking about his exams tomorrow. He also wondered if he'd been fired. Missing a day of work would be like giving Bob the middle finger. He made a mental list of things he needed to do before tomorrow.

"What do you think of that, Ray?" Ben interrupted Ray's train of thought.

"Hm?" Ray looked up at the iSight camera built into his laptop. "Oh sorry, I was kind of spacing out. Think about what?"

"About how we'd get Firedrake and Sorrel back on their way to the Rim of Heaven?" Ben answered.

"Yeah," Ray said. "Well, traveling over Europe, Africa, and the Middle East is one thing. But The United States is almost completely urbanized."

"Urbanized?" Sorrel asked.

"Cities everywhere," Ray explained. "Not only that, but the actual flight and distance would definitely be something to worry about."

"I agree," Barnabas interjected. "Staying hidden would be one thing, but flying back to the Rim from North America is another."

The professor mopped his brow. "I suppose the best way to do it would be to fly North, through Canada, Alaska, and Russia. But that would be a hefty distance, easily two or three times the distance than the original flight you made to the Himalayas."

"Yes, but let's not forget about my wing," Firedrake gestured at his splinted wing with his head.

"And we were already going on about how to get him home," Ben laughed. "How badly is it broken?"

"It's fractured," Ray said. "Since I splinted it in time, it should grow back correctly."

"Oh, and about the windstorm," Twigleg chimed in. "I believe we've found something on it."

"Thank you Twigleg, I was just getting to that," The professor said. "I did some research on wind activity, and it seems something strange was happening in that area."

"Go on," Sorrel said,

"Yes, it seems the Chinese and Russian Armies had tested a weapon on the day you said the incident occurred." The professor nodded.

"Now, they had announced this publicly to the UN and whatnot, I assume you know what that means, Ray."

"I know what the United Nations is," Ray said.

"Alright, the weapon was an Electromagnetic Pulse, or more commonly known as EMP. The energy created when the bomb detonates can stir up the wind, cause electrical storms, and in some cases distort reality."

"I wouldn't know anything about that," Sorrel crossed her arms.

"That makes sense," Firedrake said. "We were a bit far away from the Rim when it happened."

"Was there anyone else with you?" Ben asked.

"No, we were alone. Another dragon had gone missing and we went out to look for them, a few days journey from the Rim of Heaven."

"What happened during this windstorm? Was there a loud 'bang', or any thing else that happened?"

"Not that I can remember, I just remember it seemed like we were flying for an entire night over the mountains, and I was caught in a wind cyclone. I was spun around so much, everything was such a blur. After I got control again, everything was different."

"Yep," Sorrel interrupted. "The first thing I noticed was how humid it is here. It makes my fur curl sometimes, it's that bad."

"I'm afraid you might have wandered a bit too close to a Chinese military testing site," Barnabas sighed.

"But why?" Firedrake asked. "Why would they set off something like that in the middle of nowhere?"

"That's what the government does when they need to test weapons," Ray said. "They test them in areas away from people, so they won't kill civilians or cause unwanted effects to towns and cities."

"Enough about that," Ben said. "Ray, I was talking to my dad." Ben gestured to Barnabas. Ben got a bit shy. "Go on, ask him," Barnabas smiled nervously and nudged Ben. "Do you think maybe Twigleg and I could," Ben looked away from the screen. "Maybe, come stay with you, for the summer? Maybe we could try and figure out how to get Firedrake back on his way to the Himalayas."

Ray smiled. Firedrake and Sorrel looked at him longingly. How could he say no?

"Of course you can!" He laughed.

"Ray, do I need to speak to you parents or anything about this?" Barnabas asked.

Ray paused. "No. I'm alone until late September. I think it might even be best if my mother doesn't know about this. Firedrake's wing should heal in the next few months, maybe weeks."

"That's good," Ben was beaming with happiness, but he shyly turned his head to hide his smile.

There was a familiar beeping sound, and looked up in the upper right corner of the screen. Ray's laptop was low on battery, so he had to let The Greenblooms go. He closed his laptop just as the screen flickered, and stuffed it in his backpack. They were going to send him Ben's flight information so Ray could pick him up.

For now, Firedrake and Sorrel explored his vast backyard, and Ray went back to his room to study for his exams. He called Bob and explained to him the accident, but that he was wearing his jacket and rolled so he suffered no damage.

"I'd love to see the new bike, maybe wrecking it wasn't a bad thing, eh?" Bob laughed over the phone. "Get your rest, but I'll need you to work at least on Friday. We've got about twenty bikes and they need to be done by this weekend."

"I've got exams everyday this week," Ray said. "How about Saturday? I could be there all day."

"Okay, I've got you down from Saturday at nine to six, sound alright?"

"Sounds good, I'll see you saturday,"

"Be careful on that new bike, Ray. Have a good one."

Ray hung up his phone and stared at a pile of books, then out his back window. The sun had set, and since Firedrake and Sorrel were nocturnal, they weren't just going to sit around all night. He told them there was a lake farther back on his property, which consisted of about 50 acres of woodland, surrounded by pastures and cornfields.

It really was a house in the middle of nowhere, another reason Ray's grandfather insisted he get a rifle and take a gun safety course at an early age. He lived with his mother, but since she was gone so often during most of his life, he became very independent. He could cook, clean, do laundry, and keep the yard in order. Thanks to his job, he could repair problems to his motorcycle, and was able to fix basic engine trouble on his car.

His eyes started to get heavy at one in the morning, and decided to call it a night. He didn't feel too confident in what he'd just studied, but it would have to do.

Ray crawled into Bed, his mind racing on school the next day, the exam, Ben coming to visit, and what he'd tell the hospital.

What could he tell them? He just healed and the stitches undid themselves with no scarring? They would probably put him under some medical tests to see what's going on. His thoughts were racing so much, an hour had already gone by that he'd been kept up. Ray opened a drawer next to his bed and withdrew a bottle of sleeping pills. He popped one into his mouth and swallowed it, then laid back in bed.

Ray just decided he wouldn't return the hospital's calls and not go in for the check ups, even if his mother would call and demand he go. It wasn't worth exposing them. The sleeping pill had gone to work, and he felt close to sleep. Soon enough, he was out.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The dismissal bell finally rang. Testing was over for the day. Ray packed his things out of his locker and headed to the parking lot to his motorcycle.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar sight. It was his friend, Patrick.

"Yo, Ray!" Patrick caught up with Ray as he walked. "Where have you been, man? I heard about the accident."

"Yeah, um," Ray tried to think of what to say. "I just suffered a concussion, but I'm fine now."

"Really? I thought I heard that you had some stitches or something. And you're still gonna ride your bike around?"

"Yep," Ray nodded. "It's just what I do. I like motorcycles."

"I hear you," Patrick laughed. "I mean, I know you've got work and everything, but when was the last time you hung out with the guys?"

Ray paused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it seems like you kind of got all, I don't know, anti-social all the sudden. Is something going on?" Patrick asked.

"No, I've just been really busy with work and with the exams and everything, I just can't really find any time to hang out," Ray replied.

"Well, the last day of school is on friday. I'm having a party at my place friday night, you're welcome to come, man," Patrick shrugged.

They had made it to Ray's motorcycle. He mounted it and slipped on his helmet.

"Okay, I know I really haven't been around lately and I'm sorry. I'll be at the party, I promise. What time's it start?"

"Right after school, I've got some alcohol and fireworks, Luke was going to see if he could score some bud."

Ray thought for a minute. He had been debating whether or not he should quit smoking, as he hadn't had nicotine or marijuana cravings since he was healed. No, he could just go and not smoke or drink. It would be fine.

"Okay, I'll be there. See you tomorrow," Ray ignited the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

Ray didn't like having to lie to his mom, boss, the hospital, and now his friends. When was it going to end? How was it going to end? He couldn't help but feel a bit lonely. He missed his friends, but he had to be home as much as he could, to be there for Firedrake and Sorrel.

The days went by, and Ray went to exam after exam, until Friday finally came.

He told Firedrake ahead of time where he was going, and told him about work the next day. Ray had received the information for Ben's flight, and he was to be arriving next week.

Unfortunately, he would have to leave Twigleg behind. Putting a homunculus in a back pack or suitcase wouldn't turn out too well to airport security on the X-Ray machine.

They hadn't really worked out a plan yet, but Ray assumed that Ben would be accompanying Firedrake back through Canada and Russia. Deep down inside him, he really wanted to go, as well. He wasn't going to ask them if he could go, but if they asked him he would surely accept.

After the school day was over, along with the last of the exams, the student body poured out of the intimidating, industrial looking building. People held boom boxes, and had tailgates in the parking lot until the school faculty shooed them away. Ray was caught in traffic, his least favorite place to be, behind his fellow students.

He saw Patrick's car in his rearview mirror. Most of the people were headed to Patrick's, as he throws a party at the end of every school year. He always makes sure his parents are nowhere to be found during these parties, so the people with Fake ID's can bring in the alcohol.

Ray was among the first to arrive at Patrick's. It was the complete opposite of Ray's house. It was in a suburban paradise. With curbed streets, fancy street lights at every corner, sidewalks, and tennis courts, it was a dream come true for the upper middle class trying to escape the city.

As more and more people showed up, most of the people crowded the pool to escape the heat. There was music, water, and after sundown, fireworks and alcohol. Everything an angst-ridden teen could want.

Everyone around Ray was smoking or drinking. He remembered he had work tomorrow, and decided he would leave around midnight.

"Come on, man!" Patrick opened a bottle of beer and held it out to Ray. "Lighten up."

Ray hesitated. "I've got work tomorrow, man."

"So?" Patrick laughed. "I know you like to drink, just one beer isn't going to do anything."

"Alright, alright," Ray grabbed the bottle and took a swig of the beer. It gave him a buzz, and clouded his judgement. He had beer after beer, having a great time. He hadn't really socialized in what seemed like ages, ever since Firedrake landed, and he'd been staying home with them.

Still, they were on his mind the entire time. His vision became blurry, and he was occasionally seeing double. He said his goodbyes to Patrick, noting that it was four in the morning and he had work tomorrow.

"Dude, you're not driving," Patrick stopped Ray. "You're wasted, man. Go in my house and crash on the couch, okay?"

Ray was so tired and drunk, he didn't really know what to think, so he just went with what Patrick said. He collapsed on the couch, awaking after his phone's alarm beeped. All round him, there were beer bottles, plastic cups, and other pieces of trash. Some people slept in the same room as Ray, but most people had left.

His throbbing head made him shudder, and when he checked the time his heart began to pound. He had a nine hour shift ahead of him, and he was terribly hungover. Not only that, but he reeked of alcohol. There was no time to swing by his house to get cleaned up, so he snuck into Patrick's bathroom. No one else in the house stirred.

Ray opened the medicine cabinet, finding the two things he was looking for. Aspirin, and a spray can of Axe body spray. He sprayed himself down to mask the scent of alcohol, and washed his mouth out with mouthwash.

"Good enough," He mumbled. The aspirin began to kick in, and he was at least able to keep his balance. Ray stuffed a few pills of aspirin in his pocket, should he need them later, and headed out to his Kawasaki.

It loyally waited for him, nudged between several other cars. Luckily, no one had decided to tip it that night after getting wasted beyond all recognition.

He fired up his bike and headed to the interstate, still feeling terrible. There was no way he could pull this off in his current condition. Ray stopped by a gas station and bought two energy drinks and a breakfast bar.

He still felt lightheaded, but it's not like he could just not show up for work. Ray got back on his motorcycle, and unconfidently got back on the interstate. After a few minutes he was in Atlanta, and pulled off his exit, driving between the sky scrapers. It was a dull and overcast day, which blocked the constant heat of the sun.

The traffic wasn't as bad today either. Ray shifted into a lower gear, now that he was back in the city. He pulled into the parking lot of Bob's Custom Cycles. He arrived just on time, at 8:58. Hopefully, the body spray and the wind from riding his motorcycle would air him out from the smell of alcohol.

Ray knew he was hung over, but Bob was going to have him work on bikes today. He needed to be able to think and be good with his hands, but Ray only felt burnt out from the party last night.

He parked his bike, and opened the barred, glass door of Bob's shop. "Hey, Ray!" Bob was turning on the open sign. "You ready to get those bikes done today?"

"Yeah," Ray croaked. Bob looked Ray up and down.

"Is something wrong, Ray? You look tired."

"No, Bob. I'm fine," Ray said through a terrible headache.

"Alright, you look a little flustered is all," Bob pulled up the blinds in the glass walls of the store's front.

"You can get started by changing the tires on the Harley that's on the lift, and then there's a Buell that needs a new front fender. You know what to do, after you finish those two come to me."

"I got it," Ray forced himself to keep his balance, and went back to the garage.

Ray saw that the Harley on the lift had a flat rear tire. He went through the tool rack and found the tools he'd need, and worked off the rear tire. He wasn't alert enough, and the chain came off quickly, scratching the chrome muffler.

Ray cursed his luck and proceeded on the tire. Fortunately, the scratch wasn't too bad, and it should buff out. Ray Put the used the tire on a thread locker, which separated the tire and the rim.

He slipped a new inter tube in and put it back on the Harley. The scratch in the muffler buffed out as he'd hoped, and he moved onto the Buell Blast.

The Buell only needed a replacement fender. Ray located the new fender and put his mask and goggles on, then retrieved the paint gun. He sprayed the fender candy apple red, the color of the Buell Blast.

Ray air dried it and replaced it, feeling a deep pang of fatigue. He sat down for a minute, reflecting on the party last night. Most of it was a blur. Ray wasn't sure if he did anything he would regret.

Ray opened his eyes, remembering that he was at work. As he began to work the damaged fender off of the Buell Blast, his mind wandered. He thought about Ben coming next week, as well as Firedrake in his garage, whom he thought of often.

Ray's eyes grew heavy, as the throbbing in his head increased. He popped another aspirin in his mouth, praying it would allow him to continue working.

He screwed on the bolts to the fender, chucking the old one in a box for trash. Ray felt drowsy again, knowing he wasn't going to be able to finish the day.

An hour had passed, and Bob gave Ray more bikes to work on. He had 21 with minor mechanical or cosmetic problems that Ray was to finish today.

Ray moved on to a Honda Rebel with a faulty engine. He began pulling out the burnt out parts. Ray felt a surge of fatigue, and almost lost his balance. He still felt in effect of the alcohol. He felt nauseous, fighting to keep himself from vomiting.

He clutched his forehead. The music from the radio across the garage sounded different. He had a hot flash, Ray just wanted not to spill his guts. Ray ran to the bathroom, and closed the door. He hoped Bob wouldn't hear what was about to go down.

What happened in the Bathroom is best unsaid. Ray stared into the toilet, a mess of what he'd eaten and drank from last night to this morning. He flushed the toilet, and cleaned himself up at the sink.

Ray opened the door, and came face to face with Big Bob, his arms crossed, with a solemn expression on his face.

"What did you do last night, Ray?" Bob raised an eyebrow.

Ray almost told him the truth, but then lied through his teeth.

"Nothing, I went home, but I fell asleep pretty late. It must have been something I had to eat."

"Ray, you come in here tired, sick, and your eyes red on the morning after the last day of school," Bob laughed. "Listen Ray, you haven't worked here in days, I know you were in a wipe out not too long ago, but you seem to have fully recovered from it."

Ray looked at his shoes, knowing what was about to happen.

"Ray, you're costing me too much by not working, and getting into all this, this," Bob looked for a word. "This stuff. Not to mention, I can smell the alcohol."

"Okay," Ray said, ashamed.

"Ray, I'm gonna have to let you go."

It hit Ray hard, and he felt cold in the chest. He leaned up against the wall, and put his hands in his pockets, at a loss for words.

"Okay," Ray said again.

"I'm sorry Ray, you know how things run around here," Bob handed Ray a wad of cash.

"That should do for last week and today."

Ray said nothing. He looked out the window at his Kawasaki Ninja, and then at Bob. "Remember what I've taught you. If you have any problems with your bike, I've got the parts."

"Okay, Bob."

Ray started to walk out of the garage, and then back outside. He looked around, wondering what he was going to do next. The city moved all around him, but Ray felt still. He got on his Kawasaki and started the engine. He took one last look back at the shop. Bob was watching him through the window. He waved, and then went back out of view.

Ray rode around the city for some time. As terrible as he was feeling, he still took pity on a homeless man wheeling himself up the street. He looked to be a veteran of sorts. Ray pulled over, and the man held up his cardboard sign.

"I lost the use of my legs for this country. Please help."

Ray felt the bulge of wad of cash in his wallet. He took out his wallet, and plunged his hand in. He closed his eyes, and removed several random bills.

A twenty, a five, and a one.

"It's not like I'll need it," Ray sighed.

Ray got off his bike and handed the cash to the african american veteran.

"You should make better use of it than I could," Ray said to the man.

The veteran smiled, he was missing a few teeth. "God bless you, son."

Ray couldn't even smile. He felt a deep sadness within him.

After a short trip on the interstate, he'd made it to the country road he knew like the back of his hand. Ray decreased his speed, and pulled over to a spot he'd pulled over to almost two weeks ago.

He thought intensely. He was in a bit of shock. Getting food wouldn't be a problem. He had over seven hundred dollars in savings, which was going to go to a new car.

He'd acquired his old car through his cousin. He bought the Kawasaki Ninja himself, however. He could survive the summer, sure. Thankfully, Barnabas was sending money along with Ben for necessities. Ray felt the nausea in his stomach return, and his head throbbed again. Out of aspirin, he sat at the side of the road and endured it.

After it ended, he got back on the road. Ray got to his driveway, and solemnly put down his kickstand in front of his porch. He glanced at his garage. The door was still shut, but Ray could see movement inside. Ray removed his helmet and set it down on the seat, then walked closer to the garage. He must have woken Firedrake up. Ray pushed his garage door opener, and Firedrake stuck his long neck out of the garage, blowing hot breath on him.

"Hey, you never came home last night," Firedrake yawned.

Sorrel shifted in her sleep, and curled into a ball behind Firedrake.

"Yeah," Ray sat down on the concrete. "I kind of got into some things."

"Oh?" Firedrake looked at Ray's motorcycle and then at Ray. Ray sat motionless, remembering Bob's every word.

"You look kind of tense, Is something bothering you?" Firedrake asked.

Ray looked at Firedrake, not sure if he'd understand. He sighed.

"What's that smell?" Firedrake sniffed.

"Alcohol," Ray replied solemnly.

"So, what's bothering you, then?" Firedrake turned his head.

"Well, the reason I'm not at work right now," Ray glanced at the floor.

"It's because I lost my job."

"Oh," Firedrake put his head down to Ray's eye level.

"I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"

"My boss found out what I did last night, and why I couldn't work today."

"What _did_ you do last night, anyway?" Firedrake gave Ray a serious look.

"Nothing good," Ray replied. "Got wasted, fooled around with some girls, can't really remember."

"Wasted?" Firedrake said.

"Um, I don't think you'd understand," Ray replied.

"Oh," Firedrake stood up and crawled out of the garage.

"Enough about that, though," Ray said as quietly closed the garage.

"Let me check your wing. It's been two weeks, it should show signs of healing."

Ray awkwardly climbed up on Firedrake's back, and came to the makeshift splint. He removed the two broom sticks and the sheets. Firedrake didn't seem to be in much pain, if any at all. "How's the pain?"

"I feel fine, it just feels really stiff."

Ray examined the wing. It looked as if it had healed completely, but Ray wasn't about to jump to conclusions. Ray led Firedrake to the shade of an oak tree and got a flashlight. He examined the silhouette of the bone with the flashlight. First, he examined a healthy and unbroken bone, then the previously fractured bone. He compared the two.

On the fractured bone, there was what looked like small cracks in several places. The bone was growing back correctly, at least.

"How is it?" Firedrake turned his head to look at Ray.

"I think it might be done healing soon," Ray smiled as he slid off of Firedrake's back.

"How long do you think?" Firedrake asked.

"Well, I guess dragons have a faster rate of healing than humans. Usually, breaking a bone takes well over 6 weeks to heal. I'd say you need another week or two, and maybe you can try flying again."

Firedrake moved his bare wing in circles.

"I wouldn't push it, the bone is still cracked," Ray said. "I should probably redo the splint, or do you think you'll be fine?"

"No, I'll remember not move it," Firedrake sat down on the grass and yawned.

"So, what are you going to do when your wing heals?" Ray asked.

Firedrake was quiet for a few moments. "Fly back to the Rim of Heaven, I suppose."

"And that's in China?" Ray said.

"That's right," Firedrake responded.

"That's something I've always wanted to do," Ray went on. "Oh, see the world, I mean. Never have traveled that much, but I've always wanted to leave the country for a while."

"Well," Firedrake laughed. "If you went where I'm going, you'd see things very few humans ever see."

"The Rim of Heaven?" Ray stopped to think. All this talking about it, and he never really thought about it. "What's it like there?"

"It's nice," Firedrake stated. "There's a big lake, some caves, and it's a decent temperature most of the year. Hardly ever rains. But there's not any human civilization nearby, so we get our privacy."

"That's good," Ray threw a branch that had fallen off a tree into a stack of firewood he used for bonfires.

Ray was quiet for some time. Firedrake watched him as he cleaned up the yard. They said nothing, but nothing really needed to be said. Ray finished, not really knowing what to do next, so he sat down next to Firedrake.

"You want to come, don't you?" Firedrake said at last.

"Was it that obvious?" Ray looked up at Firedrake.

"Just a little," Firedrake laughed. "But I'm going to ask you the same thing I asked Ben more than seven years ago. Is there anyone that would miss you?"

"Maybe," Ray shrugged. "My mother would surely notice, but I don't know about miss me."

"What about your father?" Firedrake asked.

"Um," Ray hesitated, debating whether or not he should explain. Instead, he just shook his head. "Nope."

"I see," Firedrake sighed. "You may never come back, or never come back alive for that matter."

Ray shrugged again. "I don't care."

"You'll be living in the wilderness. You may not even see any other humans for months, or even years."

"Fine with me."

"Well then," Firedrake put his muzzle down between his paws, grinning.

"Looks like I have another rider!"

"Rider?" Ray laughed. Then he realized, he really hadn't put any thought into how we was going with Firedrake either. He was riding a dragon from North America to the Himalayas!

"I guess so!" Ray beamed with excitement, not knowing which way to look.

Then his smile faded. "I do have a life here, though."

"I know. What would you be leaving behind?" Firedrake blew a small flame, but dew kept the grass from igniting.

"Friends, school, my car, my motorcycle," Ray looked at the sky. "A lot of things. I guess you don't realize what you have until you really take a look at it."

"Or until you lose it," Firedrake uttered. "I learned that the hard way."

"The valley you were talking about?" Ray looked back at the garage, expecting Sorrel to walk in on them any minute.

"Yes and no," Firedrake sighed. "All the dragons I knew. My home, my family."

"You have a family?" Ray asked.

"Of course I do," Firedrake replied. "You'll meet them."

"I can't wait to see what this place looks like," Ray smiled. "But after all that, do you think the other dragons will take too kindly to humans?"

"Some still don't, but most will. I told them all about Ben and the Greenblooms."

"It's not like I've done anything like that, though," Ray said.

"What are you talking about, Ray?" Firedrake lifted his head up. "What have you done? You've done more than you think, actually. You gave Sorrel and I a place to stay, and not only that you fixed my wing. On top of that, you found Ben! Ray, I've seen the good in humans in people like you. It's my dream one day that we can live in harmony."

Ray smiled. "That's my dream, too."

They sat and talked for sometime, until Firedrake was getting sleepy.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back to sleep or anything?" Ray asked.

"No, I'm fine," Firedrake said. "Tell me something Ray, what do you know how to do?"

"A lot of things," Ray leaned up against the oak tree. "I'm good with a rifle, for one thing. I grew up hunting with my granddad, so I can track animals through footprints and whatnot. My uncle was a doctor, and I lived with him for a few years. He taught me some basic medical training. I can deal with, well, broken bones," Ray gestured to Firedrake's wing. "Wounds, physical injuries, you know? Not so much on disease. Kind of skipped that chapter."

"I see," Firedrake said. "Anything else?"

"I've worked at a motorcycle shop, so I can repair motors and other mechanical things to a degree, but I don't think it'll be too useful on this type of journey."

"Motors?" Firedrake asked.

"It's the part on a motorcycle or car, or a lot of other things, that makes them move or work."

"Depending on my wing, I guess we won't be leaving for a little while, then," Firedrake said as he closed his eyes. "I'm about to drift off, it was good talking to you."

"Hey Firedrake?" Ray stood up and took a few steps away.

"Hm?" Firedrake opened an eye.

"Thanks," Ray gave him a thumbs up and opened the sliding glass door to his living room.

Firedrake smiled and went to sleep. Ray sat on his couch, feeling content. He looked around. How long until he left? For that matter, how long would he be gone?

Ray started to rethink his decision. Did he want to miss out on the human experience, to go live with dragons and god knows what else? What about school? Was all his years of effort going to be worthless? What about college? Falling in love? His mind raced.

What about a life very few people could ever live? The plan was that Ray was going, and he decided to stick with it.

Ray opened up his laptop and went to Google. He put his hands on the keyboard.

"Basic survival skills."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Ray turned into the pick up area for the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Planes the size of his house were landing and taking off. It always astounded Ray that something made of metal that size could fly.

Ray parked at the side of the pick up lane, after showing his ID and parking ticket to the toll booth. There were dozens of other people awaiting pickup. He watched a car screech to a halt in front of him. A man burst out of the driver's side door and embraced a young woman, laughing and crying. Other people hopped on the shuttle which would take them into Atlanta.

He'd hosed his blue Honda Civic the day before, and cleaned up the interior. It had a musty smell from disuse, but Ray hung an air freshener on his rearview mirror. It seemed to be worth a dollar and fifty cents.

Ray checked his phone. It was 7:15 in the evening. Surely Ben should have landed by now. Since he had some time, he began to space out and think of all the things he'd need to do before he'd leave with Firedrake. For one thing, Ben was not told. Firedrake figured it would be better to ask Ben in person, so Ray waited. After all, Ben wouldn't have a problem with him coming. To his surprise, Sorrel seemed to be alright with it.

"Maybe I've grown on her," Ray thought.

He wanted to buy a pistol, something for Ben or just a sidearm. Ray's rifle was made for long range combat or hunting. At point blank, he could be at a disadvantage should something arise. Plus, the advantage of having two people with firearms compared to one is substantial. Since he was under 18, he wouldn't be able to buy one at a store. That wouldn't be a problem, Ray knew where to find weapons. Illegally, of course.

He'd already bought a small survival kit, a solar-powered GPS unit, and had been reading up on living in the wilderness. Ray had already started planning the route to the Himalayas, but he was going to wait until Ben arrived before he went any further on it.

Food shouldn't be a problem. If they were going to stick to landing in patches of what little wilderness remain in North America, then he could hunt game. Otherwise, canned food was going to be his best friend.

Of course, since he was leaving, maybe it would be fine if he sold his car or...

His motorcycle. Ray had been thinking so much about leaving lately, he forgot about his Kawasaki. If he sold both his vehicles, he could buy gear of the highest quality. After all, he wasn't planning on coming back to society any time soon. Even though he was going to go live with dragons, Ray kept cringing at the thought of leaving his motorcycle.

His prized possession, he knew he would probably never see his Kawasaki Ninja again. Ray sighed.

He snapped out of his daydream and looked around. There, walking towards him, was the same skinny teenager that Ray had met on the internet more than two weeks ago.

Ray opened the door and stepped out of his car. Ben was smiling, tugging his suitcase and his backpack was only hanging by one strap.

Ray opened his arms. "Welcome to Atlanta."

"Thanks, Ben laughed. "It's a lot more different here than I expected."

"So, this is the famous Ben Greenbloom," Ray joked. "The Dragon Rider."

"Some call me that," Ben tried to lift his heavy suitcase into Ray's trunk.

"Here, let me help you with that," Ray heaved the suitcase in his trunk and slammed it shut.

He let Ben in his car and hopped over the hood to the driver's side door. He took the scenic route, showing Ben everything Atlanta had to offer. "Are you hungry?" Ray asked as he was getting close the The Varsity, a burger joint local only to Atlanta.

"Uh," Ben looked up at some skyscrapers. "Sure."

Ray parked, and the two walked in the front doors. It was a long line, but after a few minutes the line dispersed. Finally, Ray and Ben were at the front.

"What'll ya' have, what'll ya' have?" The perky woman at the other side of the counter asked them. "Um," Ben said nervously.

Ray ordered for them. Two burgers, two milkshakes, and two pieces of peach pie. A heart attack on a plate.

Ray pulled out his wallet to pay, but he was missing his debit card. He searched through his wallet and found he only had seven dollars. "I don't have my debit card," Ray turned to Ben. "Do you have any cash on you?"

Ben pulled out a few british bills. "I didn't get these changed yet," Ben sighed.

"Oh, don't worry about it," The woman handed him their food.

"Welcome to America, by the way," She winked at Ben.

"Thanks!" Ben waved as they walked up the stairs to the tables in the scenic area.

The glass walls all around them allowed them to watch the city.

"That's southern hospitality," Ray said with a mouth full of food.

"What's that?" Ben asked, taking a sip of his milkshake.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Ray replied. "I went to live in the North for a few years, but I hated it. When I came back, I knew that southern hospitality really does exist."

Ben seemed to be thinking about something else. "Huh?" Ben looked up.

"Sorry, was kind of thinking about some other things."

Ray glanced around. "Firedrake?" Ray said.

"Of course," Ben responded.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Ray laughed. "I just wanted to show you my city, I should have done it another time. Ray thew out the food and they headed back to his car. They drove up the interstate, and exited onto a familiar country road.

"Is all of Georgia like this?" Ben rolled down the window.

"No, it's pretty urban in most places. I just happen to live in a more rural area."

Ray pulled into his driveway. Already the sun had set, and the dull heat that clung to the air began to fade. Firedrake and Sorrel knew Ray was going to pick up Ben, and Ray told them to make sure to be awake. Since it was dark now, they should surely be up.

Ray flicked off his high beams and pulled in front of the garage. The door was open, so they must have been around back. He put his Honda Civic in park and turned off the engine. He withdrew his key and opened the door, and Ben followed.

"Where are they at?" Ben asked, looking around.

"They must be around back," Ray replied, gesturing to dragon-sized footprints leading around to his backyard.

Ray led Ben around the side of the house, and Ben stopped dead in his tracks.

Firedrake and Sorrel were sitting around the fire pit, and Firedrake had started a flame in the middle. The flickering light shone off of his scales, reflecting light in several directions. They were busy chattering about something else, and didn't even notice Ben and Ray.

"Firedrake," Ben murmured. Firedrake made eye contact with Ray, and looked Ben up and down.

"Ben!" Sorrel raced up to Ben and tackled him in a hug.

"Woah, easy there!" Ben almost fell over.

Firedrake stood up and and trotted over to them.

"You've grown!" Firedrake nuzzled Ben and toppled him over to the ground. Firedrake sniffed him all over and licked his face.

"Okay, okay," He gasped. "I missed you too!"

They huddled around the fire pit and spent the night chatting. When finally, they got to the subject of leaving.

"Ray, you can help me plan a route, right?" Ben asked.

"Sure," He replied, winking at Firedrake. At first, Firedrake didn't seem to understand. But then, he remembered they hadn't talked to Ben yet about Ray joining them.

"Ben?" Firedrake blew more flames onto the fire.

"What's up?" Ben moved back a bit from the blaze.

"Well, Ray and I were talking the other day," Firedrake looked at Ray. "And we had an idea."

"What about?" Ben said.

"Well, about Ray. How would you feel if Ray came along with us to the Rim?" Ray felt a bit shy at this point and looked around. "That sounds great!" Ben elbowed Ray. "Really? I'd love to have you come with us," Ben smiled.

"I'm glad you feel that way," Ray smiled nervously.

"What made you want to come with us, though?" Ben asked. Ray was quiet for a minute, reflecting on his entire life. Why did he want to go?

"My entire life I've wanted to see the world, but I've never been able to travel. My family and I were never too close, and it seems like all I've ever done is work. There's nothing here I'd regret leaving," Ray sighed. "Except my motorcycle."

"I saw it in the garage, it looks fast," Ben laughed.

"Sorrel will confirm that," Ray replied. Sorrel grimaced just thinking about the ride on the back of his bike.

After a while, the fire died down and the sun began to rise. Ray headed in at six in the morning, but Ben stayed up, fueled by jet lag. Sorrel was passed out, laying against Firedrake.

Ray woke up later in the afternoon. He showered and threw some clothes on, then headed back downstairs. Ben had collapsed on the couch, his suitcase and backpack cluttered Ray's living room. Ray headed into the kitchen and grabbed an apple, and sat out on his porch. Everyone else was asleep, so he had some time to himself.

Just as he was about to take a bite, his phone began to ring. He checked the ID, and dropped the apple.

It was his mother. Why couldn't she just leave him alone? It's not like she's ever been around before, why call and check up on him?

Ray put this phone up to his ear and pressed the talk button. "Hey, mom," Ray sighed.

"Hello, haven't talked to you in a few weeks. Is everything going alright?" She and her Russian accent sounded hungover.

"Yeah, everything's just great. How's California?" Ray tried not to sound angry, but talking to her made him bitter.

"Warm, sunny, just how it always is. I sent a check for you in the mail, to cover groceries and your insurance this month."

"I've got a job, mom. I don't live off my inheritance like you do, you know," Ray took a bite out of the apple.

"Don't go into that with me now, Ray. Your father took a toll on us both, don't you forget," She said.

"You haven't been around anymore than that Ruski bastard has since I was in the third grade!" Ray stood up and walked away, realizing he'd raised his voice and didn't want to wake Firedrake or Sorrel up in the garage.

"You know what? Fine. I might just stay in California however long I feel like it. Have fun taking care of yourself for a while, you little brat," She rebutted.

"Fine with me. It's not like I'll be doing anything different. If you were here, you'd just be out drinking or be at home passed out from drinking!" Ray gritted his teeth.

His mother was speechless. "If that's how you feel, then fine. Good luck with the rest of your life, Raymond. I expect you to be gone by the time you're eighteen, anyway."

Ray was silent for a few moments, and then spoke a language he had tried to forget.

"Dasvidania, Nataliya. Maya u vas yest' horoshaya zhizn' bez menya." His mother was in shock of him calling her by her first name, and speaking the language of his homeland once again. She said nothing, so he pressed end, and stood motionless for a minute. He felt numb, almost like someone had died.

There was nothing keeping him here now. Ray was full of sorrow, but he repressed it. Ray took his lighter out of his pocket and retrieved a box of cigarettes out of his back pocket. He took out one and held it by the filter, then put it in his mouth. He thought for a moment, then lit the end and inhaled.

Ray inhaled deeply, but coughed. He coughed violently. After that had settled, he felt incredibly lightheaded. He tried to walk to his porch, but he was so dizzy he had to sit down to avoid falling. He tried to inhale again, but he had the same result. He smoked the entire cigarette, only getting in one good hit without coughing. It was because Firedrake had healed him, and it took all the nicotine out of his system. He felt worse than before. Since his body wasn't used to smoking anymore, it rejected it.

He threw the cigarette butt away, grunting with frustration. Did he really want to get back onto cigarettes? He had no cravings, and it's not like he'd have an endless supply out in the wilderness. Ray stood up, taking in the aroma of burned tobacco. He coughed again, cursing in Russian.

"Chertovski der' mo," he muttered. It felt strange, speaking Russian again. His parents were both immigrants, and so was Ray. They brought him to America to flee the post communism riots and violence that were throwing the country up in arms, not to mention the economic strain from switching to capitalism. Since his parents had both turned their backs on him now, he had his reasons to forget his native tongue.

Ray grabbed his keys and got in his car. He left a note for Ben, in case he would wake up. Ray pulled out of his driveway and picked up his cellphone, dialing a number he hadn't called in a long time.

"Yeah?" An angst filled voice answered.

"Hey Carl, I'm looking for some weapons, word on the street is that you might have some things I'm looking for," Ray replied.

"This is Ray, right? I used to deal to you, what happened?"

"I quit," Ray said. "Do you wanna do some business or what?"

"Fine, swing by my place. I'll see what I've got."

Ray pulled into the driveway of a rundown trailer. A man in his late twenties, sporting a 12 gauge, walked out to greet him.

"Right this way," Carl lead Ray into the dank and messy trailer. It reeked of marijuana and gunpowder.

They entered a back room. Weapons of all kinds were hung on the walls. Machetes, 9mm pistols, hunting rifles, M16s, you name it.

Ray picked examined a pistol that was laying out on the table. It was a .45 H&K USP handgun. A .45 might be too big for Ben, living in England he'd probably never shot a gun before.

"So, what can I get for you today?" Carl asked sarcastically.

"I need a 9mm," Ray replied.

Carl opened up a box, sporting an assortment of 9mm handguns. Ray examined them all, and then settled on an FMK Model 9C1. It was compact, easy to use, and had a number of good safety settings. Ray saw it as perfect for Ben.

He slipped Carl a few Benjamins and got back in his car.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Firedrake looked up at the sky anxiously, working his wings in circles. It had been four weeks since he crashed in this land so foreign to him, breaking his wing. Now, the time had finally come to try and fly again. Ray said that his wing had healed. It felt much stronger than it had in a while, but he wasn't sure how it would hold up in flight.

The sky was slowly turning to night. The sun crept below the horizon, and soon the sky was a dark abyss, exempt for Atlanta giving off an orange glow in the distance. Sorrel came and stood next to him, putting her hand on his strong shoulder.

"If you can fly, when are we leaving?" Sorrel asked.

"We could leave tomorrow, unless I still have trouble with my wing."

"Hm?" Sorrel looked up at Firedrake.

"Ray said it looks healed, but there could be other cracks in the bone he's not seeing. If it's not healed fully, it could snap while we're flying, worst case scenario."

Sorrel was still. Behind her, she heard two pairs of feet walking towards them.

Ray and Ben were having a conversation, laughing about something she probably wouldn't understand. "I'll never understand humans," She thought.

"Are you ready?" Ben held up a long, velcro strap.

"Ready," Firedrake said. "You sure you don't want to come, Ray?"

"I think I'll get enough of this in on the way to the Rim of Heaven. Like I said, the bone looks healed, but I could be wrong. Don't fly too fast or too high, or you could end up with more than a broken wing this time."

"I won't," Firedrake looked up at the moon, bathing them in pale light. Ben climbed on Firedrake's back like he'd done it a million times, and strapped himself onto Firedrake. Ben slapped Firedrake's neck twice, indicating that he was ready.

Ray gave Sorrel a boost and she sat behind Firedrake. Ray helped strap her in and then slipped his helmet on.

Truthfully, he really wanted to fly. Ray wanted Ben to have his moment, though. Flying with just Sorrel and Firedrake, just like old times for him. Besides, like he said, he would get more than enough flying in on the way to the Rim.

"Okay," Ray turned to Firedrake. "Just fly over the road, and I'll follow you."

"Alright," Firedrake looked back up at the sky. "I'm ready."

Ray mounted his motorcycle and Firedrake moved to his driveway. Ray glanced at Ben. He was overjoyed, but Sorrel looked anxious.

Ray wasn't sure what made he and Ben have such a strong bond so quickly, but then it hit him. They could relate to each other. Without having real parents, they did have a similar life to an extent.

Ray sighed, and turned the key. He pushed the electric start and revved the engine to warm it up. After he was ready, he flashed Firedrake a thumbs up.

Firedrake didn't hesitate. He gave several powerful beats of his wings and rose into the air. Ray wasn't expecting him to go so quickly, so he pinned the throttle and shifted into second, speeding down his driveway and skidding onto the country road.

Firedrake was far ahead of him, but he caught up quickly. He saw Firedrake glance down, and then saw Ray's headlight behind him. Ray passed a few cars, but Firedrake was high enough to miss their headlights.

Firedrake slowed down, and came to a hover. This surprised Ray, and he pulled his brakes, coming to a hard stop. Firedrake looked down at him, but Ray didn't understand.

"He wants to race you!" Sorrel called down.

Ray laughed, and killed the engine so Firedrake could hear him.

"Okay, race me to the next intersection about a mile up the road!" He replied.

"When I honk my horn, go, okay?"

"Okay!" Firedrake answered.

Ray took a firm grip on his front brake and clutch, then started the engine. He pinned the throttle, causing his back wheel to do a burnout. The engine roared, demanding to move forward. He began to smell burnt rubber. Firedrake was flying motionless, ready to dart off into the sky.

So much for playing it safe. Ray honked his horn and released his brakes. He powered forward, with so much torque focused on the back wheel, it caused him to do a wheelie. He'd done this many times, and effortlessly pushed the front wheel back down, stabilizing the bike.

Firedrake was keeping pace with him, slightly ahead of him now. Ray shifted into third, hitting 65 miles per hour and now racing down the street at the same speed as Firedrake.

At least he knew how fast Firedrake could fly now. Ray pinned the throttle again, accelerating to 90 and leaving Firedrake in his dust. He kept going and going, after he hit 130 miles per hour, he noticed the familiar motion blur around him. Ray glanced at his mirror, Firedrake was far behind him, and the intersection was coming towards him. He let go of the throttle and coasted to a stop, not a single car approaching on any side.

Firedrake landed just behind Ray, wheezing. Ray shrugged, and Firedrake laughed.

"Alright, you win!" He panted.

"Don't feel bad," Ray said. "If this were a foot race I'd be screwed.

They headed back to Ray's house, and sat in his back yard. Ray lit a few torches to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Ben watched over Ray's shoulder as he zoomed in on an area of the Himalayas on his laptop. Ray had downloaded all the maps he needed to the GPS unit, and they were just working out a few final touches.

"If it's not on any map, how are we going to find it?" Ray said, puzzled.

"Firedrake knows the area, he'll be able to get us there," Sorrel said.

"Alright then, I guess we've got a route!" Ray closed his laptop.

"Really? You're done?" Firedrake yawned.

"Really," Ben answered.

Ray put his laptop in his backpack, but it hit something at the bottom. He reached his hand in, and then remembered he forgot about something.

Ray got up and fetched his rifle and some ammunition.

"Ben, I've got something for you," Ray slung his rifle. Ben glanced at the rifle and wondered what was going on.

Ray took the FMK pistol out of his back pocket and held it by the muzzle, the handle sticking up.

"A gun?" Ben nervously reached out and took it from Ray.

"Since you're from England, you probably don't-" Ben slid the magazine inside and cocked it.

"I stand corrected," Ray nodded.

Ray gestured to a tree riddled with bullet holes off in the distance.

"I've been using that tree as a target for the past few months," Ray picked up his rifle and fired a shot into the tree, making Sorrel jump.

"You're welcome to put some practice rounds into it."

Ray and Ben shot off several clips into the tree. As Ben began to feel more confident with the pistol Ray had bought for him, he shot more quickly and accurately into the base of the tree. Suddenly, there was an audible creak, and the tree fell over.

Ray's ear's were ringing, but it soon wore off because he was used to shooting. Ray handed Ben a box.

"There's four magazines and a hundred rounds in there," Ray said.

"That should be enough," Ben smiled.

"So what do you think we could encounter, then?" Firedrake asked.

"Huh?" Ray answered.

"I mean, as far as humans or problems go?"

"If we're spotted, I wouldn't be surprised if they sent the national guard after us," Ben laughed. "This is America, after all."

"The route we're taking has us stay away from cities and airports, we should be fine. But if something does happen," Ray held up his rifle and cocked it.

"Since we've gotten all that out of the way, when are we leaving?" Ben looked around, and Sorrel didn't have anything to say. All eyes were on Firedrake.

"Uh," He stammered. "How about tomorrow?"

"That's a bit soon," Ben looked at Ray. "Could you be ready by then?"

"I guess so. I'll run into town and buy whatever I'll need," Ray looked at his rifle.

The next day, Ray headed into town while everyone else slept. He bought several boxes of ammunition, a machete, and a spare magazine for his Remington R-25. He also purchased two lightweight sleeping bags, a hunting knife, a flint and a lighter, a good jacket, and a sturdy pair of boots.

"Where you going?" The clerk at the gun store asked him as he payed for everything.

"Camping," Ray replied casually. He headed to the department store across the street and checked how much he had left on his bank account at the ATM. He had close to two hundred dollars left, bought as much as he could. Canned food, soups, bread, and other non perishables stacked up in his cart. He also picked up a pair of gloves.

When he reached the front of the line, the cashier looked at him funny. She watched him as he loaded dozens of canned food items onto the counter.

"I'm going camping," He said shyly.

"Ah," She replied as she rapidly scanned the items. "You must be going for the rest of the summer then."

"No," Ray swiped his debit card. "I'm going with some friends."

Ray took the bags of canned food out to his car and drove home. When he got back to his house, he packed up everything he was going to take. He put everything he was to bring in a large pile. His rifle, the GPS and survival gear, the food, ammo, a journal, some maps, a compass, two books, and several changes of clothes.

He woke Ben up, as they had discussed earlier they were going to pack together before they left tonight.

They had at their disposal a backpack for Ben, a backpack for Ray, and a large duffle bag. Ben stressed the importance of packing lightly. Ben wondered about bringing his laptop, but then thought better of it. Where was he going to find an outlet, in a tree?

"How do you think I should go?" Ray said as he loaded the cans of food into the duffle bag.

"What?" Ben looked up at him.

"Do you think I should just disappear, or leave a note in case anyone actually cares?"

Ben was quiet for a few moments and he zipped up his backpack.

"I don't know, that's up to you."

Ray watched Ben put the Pistol in a side pocket on his backpack and moved it to the side of the shrinking pile of items.

"It'll be like I just fell off the face of the earth, then," Ray sighed.

At the end result, they had three bags packed up good and tight. Ray's backpack wasn't too full, it was light enough for him to carry if he had to walk. It had his survival gear, clothes, some ammunition, and one of the books he was bringing.

Ben's backpack was overstuffed, mostly with clothes and books.

"You're going to want to bring more clothes, trust me," Ben laughed.

"I'll be fine, I've been week long hunting trips. You just don't go jumping around in the mud, and you'll do alright," Ray responded.

"Well, I've been on a trip around the world on a dragon," Ben opened Ray's bureau and threw a wad of clothes across the room. "You're going to need more clothes."

The third bag was a large duffle. They put all the food, ammunition, and sleeping bags inside.

Before the sun had set, Ray had one last shower and locked up the house. He turned everything off and closed the gas line. Everything was done.

Ray put on his backpack and slung the rifle over it. Ben carried his backpack and the duffle bag. Firedrake awoke just as the sun was setting, and he shook Sorrel awake.

At the last light of the day, they tied their things onto Firedrake's spines. Ray pocketed his cellphone and turned it off, in case he might need it for anything. Ray kept the Rifle slung, since they couldn't find a sturdy way to tie it down.

The sun had set, and the moon illuminated the area in it's pale light. "Are you ready?" Firedrake said to Ray.

"As I'll ever be," He responded, taking one last look at his garage. He became emotionally attached to his motorcycle, leaving it made him feel cold in the chest.

Ray scrambled up Firedrake's back, almost falling off twice. Ben and Sorrel sat behind him, tying themselves in with the straps. Ray made sure his was good and tight. A rope tied onto a carabiner was the only thing that would keep him from plummeting to his death.

"Alright, here we go!" Firedrake unfolded his wings and slowly began to rise off the ground.

Ray turned around and looked at Ben. "No turning back now."

"You're gonna love this," Ben replied.

Firedrake rose higher and higher, and suddenly Ray remembered that he was afraid of heights. He quickly got over it, and he began to grin.

"This is amazing!" He yelled to Ben. Ray remembered that he was the navigator, so he took out the GPS and the screen lit up. There was a compass at the top of the screen, and a map with a triangle that showed their current location. Ray directed Firedrake until he was facing the right direction, and then he shot off towards the horizon. Ray was able to pick out cities and roads beneath him, but not much more.

They flew on for hours, approaching the state line for Georgia and it's surrounding states. Ray had no regrets.


	12. Chapter 12

The first few days had gone by quickly. Flying all night, and sleeping all day. It was a simple schedule that anyone could handle. Since they weren't on a deadline like last time, there was no need to hurry. After the third day of flying, Ray and Ben had convinced Firedrake, even though he was eager to get home, to take a day and night to rest.

"Your wing just healed, and you haven't flown in weeks," Ben argued. "We'll be fine. It's going to take us a long time to do this trip anyway, what difference will a day make?"

"I guess you're right," Firedrake put his head down in between his paws. He nodded off quickly. Sorrel curled into a ball next to Firedrake.

Ben looked around. Where was Ray? Ben glanced around, and spotted him off in the distance, cradling his rifle and putting a spare magazine in his back pocket.

They were somewhere in the northeastern corner of Nebraska. There was woodland all around them, but a few miles away there was a road, and from what they'd seen from above, also a small town. Ray was standing at the top of a cliff, gazing off towards where the town was. The sun was just rising, and lights began to shut off.

"What's up?" Ben caught up with him.

"Um, nothing," Ray said.

"Can you go on watch this time?" Ben asked. "I'm really exhausted."

"No problem, but I was going to go see if I could hunt some game around here," Ray sighed. "I'd be back in an hour. Is that alright?"

"Should be fine, just remember, you're on watch," Ben walked back to where Firedrake was and lay down under a tree.

Ray looked back towards the town, and then felt his stomach rumble. His body demanded food, but he was trying to save all the canned food he could. He had an opportunity to hunt, and he was going to take it.

Ray hiked out into the wilderness, in the opposite direction of the town. It was early morning, and the cool air was starting to swell with heat. Ray stopped every so often and listened, following deer tracks across a river, and then into a field.

Ray spotted a herd of deer grazing out in the field of lush, tall grass. Slowly, he crouched down, and belly crawled towards them. He moved carefully and expertly, avoiding twigs and rustling that would give him away. He stopped about twenty yards away from the herd, and slowly rose, aiming down the rifle's sights.

He didn't want to make any sudden movements. If he could move slowly, they wouldn't notice him in time. The deer obliviously continued eating, knowing nothing of the predator about to try to make his move. Ray aimed at a buck. He was about to fire, but then it moved to another patch of grass. The buck stopped, and Ray saw his chance. He didn't hesitate.

Ray lined up the sights on the buck's head, and then pulled the trigger. The rifle recoiled and ejected the shell. The bullet traveled far and true, and hit it's mark. The buck dropped to the ground lifelessly. The rest of the herd scurried away, leaving Ray to retrieve his kill.

Ray slung his rifle and unsheathed his hunting knife. He approached the deer he shot and stood over it. Ray had skinned many deer, and this one was no different. He cut out all the good meat, and left the rest for scavengers. Ray was starving, but he hadn't been out too long. He started a fire near to the river he crossed earlier and cooked the meat.

It was very gamey, but satisfying. Ray cleaned the leftover meat he saved for Ben, and put it in a sack attached to his belt. He washed his hands in the river, and looked at his reflection.

He hadn't showered in days. He felt dirty, and his hair was in a mess. Ray realized he took showers for granted now.

He washed off his knife, and started to cut off a few inches off his hair over the river. He dunked his head underwater for a moment, and then retreated it, gasping for breath. he shook the water out of his hair, and then looked around. Ray stripped his clothes off and bathed in the cool, clear water. Not only was it cleansing, but it was an escape from the heat.

Ray slipped back into his clothes and tied his boots on. He made his way back to their campsite, and sat down under a tree, keeping watch. An airplane streaked across the sky, reminding Ray that he was never alone.

The next day, they packed up and left, flying on. After two straight weeks of flying, they made it to southwestern Canada, and were now following the coastline into Alaska, and then Russia.

It was substantially cooler in Canada. The nights were so cold, Ray had to put on a jacket. He wasn't used to the cold, and he had a low tolerance to it. Ben seemed to be doing fine, and Sorrel as well. It was an adjustment he was going to have to make.

He thought often about when they would reach Russia. He couldn't remember anything about his homeland, he was very young when he did live there. He was also excited, but a little afraid of meeting the other dragons. What were they going to think of Ray?

The weeks went by, and turned into a month. They stopped at the western coast of Alaska halfway into the night, since they wouldn't have enough moonlight to leave North America and enter Russia.

The prevailing arctic winds go against their path of travel, meaning it would take twice as long to cross. The route they had decided on would have them land on Diomede, a small island in the Bering Straight. They passed without problem, and Ray watched the coastline below him come closer and closer.

Entering Russia was a big deal to Ray. He hadn't told his friends about his past, and they didn't know he spoke Russian. He intended to keep it that way, but the minute they touched the ground, he felt a strange feeling, as if he'd come home.

They made camp just after the coastline, a safe distance away from a village they'd flown over. The military presence there was something to take note of.

"Hey Ben?" Ray set his backpack under a tree as he zipped up his jacket.

"Yeah?" Ben sat down on a bare rock.

"I was thinking of heading in to that town," Ray said. "You know, see if there's any supplies and food I can buy."

"But you don't have any Russian money, do you?" Ben laughed.

"You can barter," Ray replied.

"You don't even know the language!"

"Why do you want to go into that town so bad?" Sorrel asked.

"Just, because," Ray stuttered.

"I don't see why he can't go," Firedrake chimed in.

"If I'm not back before nightfall, assume something happened to me," Ray took the pistol out of Ben's backpack and put it in his jacket pocket. "I mean, leave without me."

"We wouldn't," Firedrake nuzzled Ray.

Ray hiked several miles, and he came to a small, Russian village. He followed the road and looked for the name of the town, but found no sign.

Several military humvees passed him by. There were armed soldiers on most street corners. There must have been a military base nearby. The village was nothing like America. Everything looked much older, and it had more of a tribal feel. The streets were old, worn concrete. And the cars were even older.

Ray was looking around, and he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. He walked right into a Russian Soldier. It startled Ray, and he backed up.

"Excuse-" Ray stopped, and remembered his Russian.

"Moi izvineniya," Ray apologized.

The soldier tightened his grip on his AK-47, but said nothing. Ray walked away steadily, hearing the soldier who he bumped into mutter something to another soldier.

"Amerikanski."

Ray wandered the streets, speaking to several people and begged for money. It was fun speaking Russian again, especially when he had people to speak it with. He came up with a small amount, and bought several canned goods.

As he was walking, the same soldier, accompanied by another, approached him.

"We need to have a little talk," One said in Russian. Ray felt cold in the chest, and the bulge of his pistol against his thigh.

"Is this about me bumping into you?" Ray said in a not so perfect Russian accent. "I said I was sorry."

"No, it's about what you were going to say," The Russian smiled. "American spy."

"What?" Ray gasped. "No, I'm not an American spy! Well, I'm American, but I'm no spy!"

"Then what are you doing here, at a military border town?" The Russian ordered.

"I was born in Moscow, but moved to America when I was young," Ray explained. "I'm visiting my uncle."

"Uh huh," The Russian nodded. "And where does he live?"

"On Rouz Bul'var," Ray recalled the name of a street he saw on a sign. The soldiers whispered to each other, and then they looked at Ray.

"Our apologies," The Russian nodded. "You may go."

They left Ray, and he walked away swiftly, his heart beating fast. When he made sure they weren't following him, he ran back to the road he entered the village on, and went through the woodland back up to Firedrake, Sorrel, and Ben.

As he was nearing the campsite, he heard the familiar Russian accent of two soldiers he just spoke with.

"Don't take another step."

Ray spun around. The barrel's of two AK-47s were aimed at him. Ray put his hands up.

"Ne strelyaite!" Ray pleaded with them not to shoot. And then, Ray heard heavy footsteps, along with the chatter of Ben and Sorrel. They must have heard when Ray screamed, and came to investigate.

The soldiers looked at the dragon incredulously, and then at Sorrel. The dragon growled, but they raised their rifles.

"Rasskazhite drugim, mal' chikom syuda, vmeste s zhivotnym, ili my budem streylat tri iz vas!"

"I don't speak Russian!" Ben cried.

"You, translate!" They ordered Ray in Russian.

Ray sighed. "They said, they want Ben and Sorrel to walk to them, with their hands on their heads, or they'll kill the three of us."

They kept their sights on the dragon, but in their peripheral vision watched it's companions. As they waited for an answer, and for something to happen, one of them became impatient, and fired a warning shot close to Ray's foot.

"Okay," Sorrel put her hands on her head and walked forward, and Ben followed. Firedrake angrily stared down the men, frustrated that if he did anything Ray, Sorrel, and Ben would be killed.

As the two of them walked forward, Ray stayed where he was and put his hands down. The soldiers were too focused on the dragon to see Ray reach into the side pocket of his jacket. It was going to have to be quick, but he could pull this off.

Ray drew the FMK 9C1 as quickly as he could, and immediately a sense of adrenaline kicked in. As he lined up the sights, everything looked a bit slower due to his adrenaline spike. He opened fire on the Russian soldier to his left, putting a bullet in his forehead and killing him instantly. The second soldier had time to react, and sprayed bullets in his direction. Just as Ray pulled the trigger, and put a bullet in the other soldiers neck, he felt painful impacts on several areas of his body.

The soldier dropped to the ground, suffocating on his own blood from a punctured windpipe. Ray fell backwards with the force of the rounds fired at him and coughed up blood as his back collided with the ground.

Ray was rooted to the ground in pain and shock. Three bullets had hit him. One in the thigh, and two in his chest. Blood profusely dripped from his body, and he began having trouble breathing. Ray tried to get up, but felt pain deep in his chest and fell back to the ground.

"Ray!" Sorrel cried. Ben ran to him, and helped him up. Ray watched the Russian, dying a slow and painful death. He shook Ben off and limped towards him. He glanced down at the Russian, who was trying to reach for his rifle but lacked the strength to do so. Ray glared at him for a moment, and then a shot of pain went up through his body. It filled Ray with anger, and aimed his pistol at the soldier's head. He clicked the hammer, and looked him in the eye.

"Ya ne shpion(I am no spy.)," Ray coughed, and executed him.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Ray dropped the FMK and collapsed again, feeling a deep sorrow come over him. He was responsible for the deaths of two men. Granted, he had saved the lives of his comrades, but it wasn't a good feeling nonetheless.

Ben helped Ray over to Firedrake, who blew a flame onto him. He felt a familiar feeling, the same one when Firedrake healed his arms come over him. The bullets fell out of Ray's wounds, and they immediately closed, although the holes in his clothes where the gunshot wounds were and the bloodstains were still there. He felt no pain, but the emotional pain from ending two men's lives didn't leave.

"So," Ben sighed, at a loss for words. "Where did you learn Russian?"

Ray didn't even make eye contact with anyone, he couldn't even smile after Sorrel thanked him, nor did he thank Firedrake for healing him.

"I'll tell you later," Ray put the pistol in his back pocket and looked at the two corpses.

"We should move, if they heard those gunshots they'll be sure to come investigate," Ben said.

Ray looked back at the soldiers. Two AK-47s just going to waste. Ray went over to the body of one of the soldiers and picked up his rifle. It wasn't an AK-47, but a more recent variant, the AK-103. Then he scavenged 8 magazines full of ammunition on their persons. They each had a sidearm, and what looked like grenades clipped to their belts along with radios. Ray unclipped the grenade. On the side, in Russian, it read "Flash bang." Stun grenades.

He stuffed the magazines in his pockets, and clipped two flash bangs to his belt, and left the bodies to catch up to Firedrake.

He could tell Firedrake was sleep deprived, but they had to move. They walked a few miles in the woods, and settled down again. No one said anything, and Ray kept to himself.

After a while, he approached Firedrake.

"Hey," He sat down on the forest floor. "Thanks for," Ray scratched his head. "For healing me, again."

"No problem. Thanks for saving Ben and Sorrel," Firedrake said.

"Where did you learn Russian, anyway?" Ben asked.

Ray still felt cold in the chest, as he did when he was afraid or depressed.

"I was born here. In Moscow," Ray explained. "After communism ended, my country was in a deep recession and there was a lot of violence. My parents moved to America when I was 5."

"Why did you lie to Ben about not knowing Russian, then?" Sorrel asked.

"My father abandoned us just after we got to America. I already had some relatives in America, as well. My mother and I never really had a good relationship, so she tried to pawn me off on several of my relatives. I lived with my grandfather and my uncle, both of whom died while I was living with them. So I went back to live with my mother when I was ten. She inherited some money from my grandfather and uncle, and she spent it all on drinking, partying, and trips to California. I got some inheritance, too."

"What did you spend the money on?" Ben asked.

"A Kawasaki Ninja," Ray smiled. "My laptop, some other things. I ran out of my inheritance money after I bought the motorcycle, I didn't get as much as my mom. But just before we left, I spoke to my mother. She decided it was best for her to stay in California, and she wouldn't come back until I was moved out at eighteen."

"Oh," Firedrake listened intently. He didn't understand some of what Ray was saying, but he got the main point. "No wonder you wanted to leave so badly."

"I don't really like talking about my past. I tried to forget Russian, but I guess you can't forget your native language," Ray sighed. "Ben, I'm sorry I lied to you."

"Ray," Ben punched him in the shoulder. "You don't have to apologize, I understand."

"And I'm sorry I led those soldiers back here," Ray nodded. "I should have been more careful."

"Ray!" Ben smiled. "Shut up!"

"You didn't mean to, don't worry about it," Sorrel muttered.

Ray picked up the AK-103 and removed the magazine, then cocked it. He examined it inside and out, but refrained from firing it. The AK-103 could be easily disassembled and fit in Ray's backpack. Ray gave Ben his Remington R-25, and taught him how to empty the magazine and switch on the safety.

With half of their journey done, they were well on their way to the Rim of Heaven. It wasn't easy, but Ray changed his attitude, even with blood on his hands. He was starting a new life, living with dragons. He had found friends that accept him for who he was, and that was enough for him.

The trip across Russia was long and cold. Ray had gone into another Russian village, one far away from the border to minimize risk with the military, and to buy a new jacket. The village he entered was very rural, but there were some modern shops and stores. As he walked around the small community, children followed him. They asked where he was from, what his name was, and how old he was.

He shooed them away and changed the American bills into Russian at the bank. The clerk at the bank looked at him funny, but honored his request and handed him a wad of Russian cash. Unsure of why the clerk gave him a hard time, he crossed into the bazaar, and found a shop selling cheap clothes. He spent the rest of his cash on a black jacket. It was warm wool on the inside, and nylon on the outside. It would protect him from the cold, that's for sure.

As he was walking out of the bazaar, Ray picked up a newspaper, and saw that there was a story regarding the deaths of two soldiers on the eastern coast of Russia. Ray gulped, and read through the article.

"Two National Guard soldiers were found shot to death near the Kalashiknov Military base, only two hundred kilometers from Alaska. Footprints and several shells of an American made 9mm handgun were recovered. Reports indicated they had encountered what they believed to be an American spy. Upon discovery of the two bodies, one soldier's rifle was missing. The gunman is said to be armed and highly dangerous. The United States denies all accusations, declaring they value the Russian Federation as an ally and would never attempt espionage on our great nation."

"Well I'll be damned," Ray thought. "I'm causing an international incident." He tore the article off the paper and pocketed it, and then quickly left the village, making sure not to attract any attention.

He showed the article to Ben, just before they were taking off. "Well that's not good, at least they don't know who you are."

"Let's hope not," Ray sighed.

They continued southwest, finally reaching the Himalayas after two straight months of flying. The mountain tops were taller than anything Ray had ever seen before. He wasn't used to flying and having no lights beneath him. The only humans that could settle this area are the ones that lived in monasteries.

Firedrake seemed to have his bearings after a few days of flying the Himalayas, and finally approached nine jagged peaks surrounding a valley.

Ray's heart began to pound, knowing the journey had come to an end, but a new one was about to begin. Ray's AK-103 bounced around, slung on his back as the wind shuffled Firedrake around.

Firedrake seemed excited. As he was coming in to land, several figures streaked across the sky. They were other dragons. There were some below them, basking in the moonlight or playing in the cold water of a crescent shaped lake. As Firedrake landed, several dragons approached him. Sorrel let out a sigh of relief, and Ben was smiling. Ray was afraid. Here he was, a Russian country boy biker from Atlanta, Georgia, in the middle of the Himalayas surrounded by creatures that aren't supposed to exist.

"Firedrake!" A dragon, a bit larger than Firedrake, called. "You're alive!"

"Indeed I am, Shimmertail!" Firedrake laughed. Shimmertail glanced at Ray and Ben. "You brought humans with you?"

Ben undid his strap and dropped to the ground. "I believe we've met before, Shimmertail," Ben ran a hand through his hair.

"The dragon rider, Ben!" Shimmertail smiled. "You've grown a lot."

"And this is Ray," Sorrel nudged Ray, who was too nervous to speak.

"Nice to meet you Ray," Shimmertail said. Ray didn't know what to say, so he nodded.

Sorrel and Ray dropped off of Firedrake, but Ray kept his rifle close. He put his backpack on and slung the AK over it, and kept close to Firedrake. He was introduced to many dragons and brownies, but he still felt shy. Some of the brownies he was introduced to had four arms, instead of two. As the dragons and brownies crowded around them, they began to part. An old, yet humble looking dragon strode up to Firedrake.

"Slatebeard," Firedrake murmured.

Slatebeard assembled the dragons and led Firedrake, Ray, Ben, and Sorrel to a small ledge above the valley.

"My brethren, we have good news today. Young Firedrake and Sorrel have returned to us, and brought friends!" Slatebeard made eye contact with Ray, and then Ben. Ray looked down at all the dragons and brownies looking up at him, which made him nervous. They whispered and murmured to each other, which added to his anxiety.

"Which one is Ben?" Slatebeard asked Firedrake quietly. Firedrake gestured to Ben with his head.

"Ben, the dragon rider of the legend, has returned here once again," Slatebeard said. Ben walked forward and leaned against Firedrake.

"And what is your name?" The wise dragon asked Ray.

"I'm Ray," he said. "I ran into Firedrake several months ago."

"I see," Slatebeard said. "Maybe that wasn't chance, but fate."

"Maybe," Ray looked at the ground, the fluttering in his chest going away now.

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, Ray." Slatebeard said.

"Thank you," Ray replied with respect. Firedrake turned to Slatebeard.

"That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about, Slatebeard." Firedrake explained what had happened and what Ray had did, along with the story Ray told them about how he came from Russia.

"So my question is, can Ray live here with us?"

"Like I said," Slatebeard didn't hesitate to say. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, Ray."

Ray felt overjoyed, all anxiety subsiding within him. With their introductions out of the way, Ray stuck with Ben and his rifle, losing more fear as the night went on. He met so many dragons and brownies he couldn't remember their names, and never had a moment to himself.

He caught a dragon, large and intimidating with darker scales than the rest of the dragons he'd seen, eyeing him savagely several times. He could see some hostility in some of the dragons he met, but they accepted him and Ben because of Firedrake.

Eventually, Ray was so hungry he had to cook something. The best thing about having dragons around is that you never need a lighter. He cooked a can of soup and split it with Ben. The duffle bag had lost a lot of weight, there was almost no food left.

"There are some yaks that graze in a field not too far from here," Luca, a dragon Ray had just been introduced to explained. "But I could be wrong. There's not a lot of wildlife here."

"I'll survive," Ray put out the embers of what used to be a flame by stomping on it.

Firedrake was nowhere to be seen, until they saw two dragons flying overhead. "That's Maya," Ben explained as they watched them effortlessly glide through the air together.

When the sun began to rise, the excitement had ended and most of the dragons went to sleep. The crowd of young hatchlings that had followed Ben and Ray for most of the night were retrieved by their respective parents, and Ben and Ray were left alone.

Ray didn't feel like sleeping, but Ben was out like a light. With all the excitement, how could he fall sleep? Luca, the dragon Ray had made friends with, was sleeping next to Ben. Ray looked around, at the lake, and then at the nine peaks, where he had seen a large entrance to a cave. Ray shrugged and slung his rifle, remembering the dragon he saw earlier watching him, and headed towards the lake.


	14. Chapter 14

Ray observed his surroundings. The sun had risen, but it remained chilly. Still, Ray only wore a T-Shirt. Ray went into his backpack and glanced at his GPS. He couldn't get a signal, but he left it in the sun to charge. Ray slung his rifle, remembering the dragon he saw earlier watching him.

As he walked down to the lake, Ray observed some flowers that seemed to glow. He saw some lights near the lake the night before, but it must have been these flowers. There were mountains as far as he could see surrounding him, but back towards the nine closest mountain peaks, there were some caves he saw the dragons enter. Since he had nothing else to do, he decided to explore.

Ray entered the cave, expecting to see darkness. Instead, it was as bright as it was outside in some areas. There was a clear, glowing stone that lined the walls and ceiling. Ray pressed his hand up against a wall of glowing, blue light. It felt like glass, and it wasn't emitting any heat.

"That's moonstone," a shriveled voice spoke. Ray spun around, and then looked down in front of him. It was a small man, barely came up to Ray's knee.

"Wait," Ray stuttered. "You're gravelbeard. Firedrake told me about you."

"Oh, so I guess you know all about me and my traitorous ways," Gravelbeard laughed.

Ray took a knee and shook his hand. "I'm Ray."

"Good to meet you," Gravelbeard said. "I heard all the excitement of Firedrake returning, but I was busy carving some of this beautiful stone," Gravelbeard gestured to the walls and ceiling of the cave.

"This is moonstone. When moonlight or dragon fire touches it, it retains the light for years."

Ray left Gravelbeard, who went back to carving in that area of the cave. He went deeper into the cave, and started coming across sleeping dragons and brownies. The further he went, the less dragons he saw. Eventually, he came to a wide, open space. Since there wasn't much moonstone, it was quite dim. There, in the middle of the clearing, next to some stalactites, was the skull of a giant lizard-like creature.

"Nettlebrand," Ray thought. He recalled the story he'd heard from Firedrake, and then Ben.

Ray yawned, and turned around. It was about time to get some sleep. As he was walking back, a large dragon blocked his path.

Ray's heart began to pound. The dragon stared him down, it was the same dragon Ray saw earlier. It had the same, savage look in it's eyes.

He looked up at him, at a safe distance. The dragon strode towards him, and circled him in a predatory way.

"What are you doing here, human?" It rasped.

"Just looking around," Ray slowly shuffled away, but the dragon continued to encircle him.

"You think I don't know," the dragon laughed, and licked it's lips.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ray grunted, unslinging his AK-103 and taking off the safety.

"I don't want to have to hurt you," Ray warned.

With that, the dragon threw it's head back and laughed. "That's a good one," The dragon came a bit too close for comfort and backed Ray into a wall. Ray raised his rifle, ready to fire.

"Do you know what your kind did to mine?" It said. "Do you?"

"Yes, Firedrake told me. But I'm not like that, and neither is Ben," Ray replied.

"Listen, I think we've just had a misunderstanding. I-" The dragon slashed Ray across the chest with his claws, and the sheer force threw Ray across the cave, into the back of a wall.

Ray hit the wall hard, and he landed with a yelp while rolling over backwards. Ray picked himself up quickly. Luckily, he had a firm grip on the rifle and it wasn't damaged.

He aimed the iron sights at the dragon, hesitating from shooting. It didn't catch his warning, and charged him. Ray moved to the left as it's claws clicked across the rocky ground, and inhaled solemnly.

He purposely aimed away from it's head and at a charging leg, and fired his rifle on full automatic. He shot two bursts of six bullets at the dragon, the extreme noise of the gunshots echoing around the cave. Several stalactites crumbled at the noise. It downed the dragon, and he slid into a wall of rocks.

Ray panted, keeping his aim on the dragon as he picked himself up and observed his damaged leg.

"I didn't want to do that, I'm sorry!" Ray cried. The dragon began to pick itself up, with the intention of charging Ray again. Ray was about to fire again, when when he heard a voice from the direction he had just come from.

"Stop!" Slatebeard barked.

Ray glanced at Slatebeard, Firedrake, Maya, and several other dragons and brownies watching them.

Ray looked at Firedrake, then at his rifle and the dragon that had attacked him, not sure if he was about to be killed or banished from this land. Ray lowered his rifle.

"Slatebeard!" The wounded dragon stood up. "Thank goodness you're here. This human attacked me!"

"That's a lie!" Ray shouted.

"Ray, you're bleeding," Maya cooed. Ray glanced at his chest, three thick slashes had been cut into him and his T-Shirt. He was so worked up, he didn't even notice.

"Steel, why is this human wounded?" Slatebeard asked firmly.

"He fell," Steel growled. "Can one of you go ahead and breathe fire on me already?"

Maya walked forward, and strutted right past Steel, blowing healing fire onto Ray instead. His wounds closed, but he had a new addition to his collection of bloodstained clothes.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced yet," Maya put her head down to Ray's eye level. "I'm Maya."

"It's good to meet you," Ray stroked her scales. "And thanks for healing me."

Ray stood with Firedrake and Maya as more dragons and brownies began to show up to investigate.

"Steel, you will be punished," Slatebeard said sternly.

"How badly is he wounded?" Slatebeard turned to Ray.

"Um," He stammered. "Nothing life threatening, I guess."

"No one is to heal Steel unless I say so. Is that understood?" Slatebeard said to his brethren.

There were various shouts of approval, and they left Steel all alone with his injuries.

"What happened?" Firedrake asked as he walked away with Ray.

"I don't even know," Ray sighed.

"Don't feel bad about it, Ray. No one here thinks any less of you."

Ray was quiet the entire walk out of the cave. "Ray, are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah," Ray sighed.

"Steel has had some," Maya paused, "Experiences, with humans before," Don't take it personally."

"I'll be sure not to take him trying to kill me personally," Ray rebutted.

When nightfall came, the dragons and brownies started their day as humans do in the morning. They made sure Ray and Ben were never alone, although Ray had tried on numerous occasions to get a few minutes to himself. A passing dragon or brownie would see him and want to hang out. Since he wasn't trying to be rude, and could see they were just trying to be hospitable, he never declined.

At dawn of the next day, when all the dragons and brownies and gone back to sleep, Firedrake and Maya protectively slept with Ray, Ben, and Sorrel. Ray closed his eyes, but remained awake. He anxiously waited for the group to fall asleep. Until he heard a snore rise from Firedrake's muzzle, he quietly jumped to his feet. Ray rifled through his backpack, making sure the first aid kit was inside. Ray held still, as he heard Sorrel shift in her sleep. He quickly clipped his hunting knife to his belt and sighed.

Ray slung his backpack, but not his rifle. He tiptoed to the farther end of the cave, ducking behind rocks as a dragon passed him by. He continued on, until he found himself in a familiar, large chamber with the skull of a dead predator, and an injured dragon.

Ray kept the AK-103 at the ready, but did not aim down the sights. He approached a sleeping Steel, and kicked a rock at him to wake him up.

He shook his head and looked up at Ray, his facial expression unchanged from the last visit.

"So you've come to finish me off, is that it?" Steel growled, looking at the rifle in Ray's hands.

"No," Ray replied. "If they're not going to heal you, then I guess I'm going to have to help."

Ray dropped his rifle on the floor, along with his pistol and kicked them a few feet away. "I'm unarmed, now," Ray stated. "If I do this, are you going to try anything?"

Steel was quiet for a few moments, and then shook his head.

"Good," Ray unsheathed his hunting knife and walked around to his leg. The knife made Steel uncomfortable, but he refrained from doing anything to Ray.

Ray examined the wounds on his leg. nine bullets had embedded themselves into Steel's leg, and three had passed right through.

"This is going to be painful, but I promise you'll feel a lot better afterwords. I need your word, are you going to try anything?"

Again, Steel shook his head, but watched Ray carefully. One by one, Ray stuck his knife into the wound and pried out the bullets with the blade. Each time, Steel howled in pain and convulsed, but held as still as he could. Ray was surprised no one had come to check on Steel after all the noise, but they had orders not to.

Steel twitched as Ray sprayed the antiseptic on and taped several gauze strips and bandages to the wound, since he couldn't wrap them around the large leg. It was already showing signs of infection, but even the simple antiseptic should take care of it.

"There," Ray sheathed his knife, and held out a handful of nine bloody 5.56mm rounds. "Now I hope we can put this behind us."

"Maybe," Steel watched as Ray dropped the bullets and wiped Steel's blood off onto his jeans. He picked up his rifle, and stuck the pistol in his back pocket, returning to Firedrake.

"Wait," Steel grunted. Ray spun around. "Yeah?"

"Why are you helping me?"

"I don't know," Ray shrugged. "It just felt like the right thing to do."

Ray turned around and trekked away, crunching gravel and small stones under his feet.

"I'm sorry," He heard Steel utter.

Ray turned around for one last time, and looked Steel in the eye. He nodded approvingly, and returned to his spot next to Firedrake and went to sleep.

The next night, it was time for Ben to leave. Already it was September, and it was time for Ben to go back to school.

"Take care of yourself, Ray," Ben said as Ray tied Ben's backpack to Firedrake's spines.

"You too," Ray replied. They embraced, and Ben strapped himself onto Firedrake. The dragons and Brownies saw him off, and Firedrake started a few powerful wingbeats, destined towards the monastery.

"See you in a few days!" Firedrake called as he rose higher and higher.

Ben and Sorrel watched them gain altitude, and then Ray spotted something falling towards the ground. Ray pushed Sorrel out of the way and caught it just before it hit the ground.

It was the pistol Ray had given Ben. Attached was a note.

"Good luck, Ray. I'll come visit you when I can. If you haven't given up on humanity, come stay with me sometime. I'll be sure to let you know if you're on any missing persons list, too. -Ben" The note listed his address in England.

"What does it say?" Sorrel peered over his shoulder. Ray read the note out loud to Sorrel.

"I guess that's it then," Ray looked up at the mountains surrounding the valley he stood in. They made him feel small, but not alone. Ray sighed contently, knowing that this was where he was going to live.

He turned his phone on. It had been weeks since he tried to get a signal, and it hadn't changed. The phone indicated that the battery was low, and it made him think.

Ray looked at the phone earnestly. His only contact to the outside world, even though it wasn't working at the moment. It's still possible he could get a signal if a satellite comes close enough, but wasn't it the world he was trying to get away from?

Ray was about to turn his phone off, when suddenly, he had one bar. How was it even possible to get a signal out here? That satellite theory was starting to sound kind of far fetched, anyway. He watched as his phone loaded the many, many text messages and indicated how many messages were in is voicemail inbox. The battery was so close to dying, he had to decide what to look at. The text messages were probably irrelevant, so he went to his voicemail to see if there was anything important.

A message from Bob caught him by surprise.

"Hey Ray, it's uh, it's Bob. Listen, I'm just going to be straight up. I can't find anyone that did as good of a job as you on the bikes and around the shop. If I wanted someone as good as you, I couldn't afford it. If you come back to work, I'll give you a raise, starting twelve an hour. Gimme a call back if you're interested." July 13th.

There were many messages in his inbox, some were from child protective services vaguely asking him to come in for questioning, along with a more firm and direct one from the police.

"Mr. Sokolov, this is Officer Jaeger from the Atlanta police. We received word that you had gone missing from your mother, and just wanted to confirm you are alright. If you don't give us a call in the next two weeks to schedule an appointment where we may get a chance to sit down and have a chat, you will be put on the missing person's list and runaway list. Thank you for your time." The message was sent on August second, so he was definitely on the runaway list now.

One by one, he skipped from message to message, until he got to one that stuck out. It was a female, Russian accented voice. Surprisingly, it sounded sober.

"Raymond, when I come back to house, you were gone. I come home three days ago, I hope you aren't dead, but I think that's what you want of me," She said awkwardly in her english. "I'm sorry Ray, that I or your father have never been there for you. Please come back, I promise things will be different. I call your father, and I tell him you have run away. Your father would very much like to see you, he say. I know you aren't dead, because I come home and house is locked up, and your car and motorbike is still here. I know you are out there Ray, please come home to your tired mother. I will wait for you. Ya lyublyu tebya, syn moi." Sent August fifth.

Ray looked at his cellphone, knowing what had to be done. His only contact to the outside world. Surely, he still had enough battery to make one phone call, but in the events of his life, he had lost faith in humanity, and didn't care to talk to even his apologetic mother now. Maybe someday, he would come home. But all Ray knew was, he wasn't going back to the States any time soon.

Ray threw the phone on the ground and stomped on it. The plastic and glass popped and burst under his boot.

"Ya sdelal (I'm done)," Ray thought. He walked away from his smashed phone with Sorrel.

Ray had no regrets.


	15. Ray Sokolov Bio

Raymond Sokolov

Ray was born on September 22, 1993 in Moscow, Russia, and grew up during the post-communism riots. His father was a violent alcoholic. Ray blames his father for the death of his brother, Levi. Levi was shot to death by riot police at a communist rally at the Kremlin in 1997. Ray's father, Vlad, handed Levi a baseball bat and told him to attack a riot squad. Levi was only seventeen years old.

Following Levi's death, Vlad fled the scene, avoiding incarceration only by taking Ray and his mother, Nataliya, and fleeing the country by way of the Russian mafia. They were given forged passports and arrived in Atlanta, Georgia. Only two months after arriving in America and acquiring American citizenship, Ray's father remorselessly divorced Nataliya and left Ray all by himself. Nataliya plunged into a deep, alcoholic depression and neglected Ray. His grandfather, who was genuinely concerned for Ray's well being, suggested that he come stay with him.

Nataliya sent him to live with his grandfather and uncle in Michigan. His uncle was a doctor in the ER, and taught Ray about basic first aid and treating injuries. His grandfather was an avid hunter, and bought Ray his first rifle as well as teaching him riflery. His grandfather gave him a small .22 rifle and took him hunting often. Ray truly loved his grand father and uncle. However, after two years, Ray's grandfather died of a heart attack, and shortly after, his uncle, ironically compared to his job, died after a car accident in the ER.

Ray went back to Atlanta, since there was nowhere else he could live, when he was eight. He inherited a large sum of money from his uncle and grandfather. He also inherited his grandfather's Remington R-25 .223/5.56mm rifle.

Nataliya inherited much more than Ray, according to their wills. She quit her job and used the money to sustain herself and her lust for nightlife and alcohol for the next six years. Nataliya was almost never around for Ray, and spent most of her time in California. Because of the pain that was caused by Levi's death, and his father abandoning him, Ray tried to forget Russian. He used to think and dream in Russian, but soon after coming to America it was replaced by english. He even got a convincing southern accent from living in the south.

On his sixteenth birthday, Ray bought a 500cc 2006 Kawasaki Ninja, and a month later he recieved his cousin Sergei's 1999 Honda Civic from the government. After Sergei was given a life sentence for murder, his possessions were distributed to his remaining family members, Ray and Nataliya, though they never spoke to him.

Soon after acquiring his motorcycle, Ray met Bob, owner of Bob's Custom Cycles. Bob gave Ray a job, and it meant that Ray wouldn't have to spend his inheritance anymore to sustain himself. Sometimes, his mother would send him money, but it was once a month at the most and was never enough for food and utilities.

Ray became a very independent, yet lonely person. Never showing any sign of weakness or strife, Ray was stricken with the grief of his brother's death, along with his grandfather and uncle's death as well. Because anyone he ever cared about had either turned their back on him or perished, Ray had depression and abandonment issues, no doubt. It wasn't uncommon for him to sometimes break down, his bottled up emotions breaking loose. He longed to see the world, and specifically, his homeland of Russia. His entire life, he had never known the true meaning of family, nor love.

For this reason, he found it difficult to talk to girls, but his good looks and motorcycle often compensated for that. He was still good natured, and tried to keep what innocence he had left as visible as he could. However, he hid his flaws and addictions, along with his problems. Ray turned to drugs and alcohol, specifically cigarettes, marijuana, beer, and Russian vodka to fill the void in his heart, but found it could only be temporary. Of course, he only did them with his closest friends, and never smoke or drank inside his house to be safe.

There was no one he trusted enough to share his dark past with. As a result, Ray became an emotional rock to cope with the pain of being abandoned by his parents, and the deaths in his family. His subconscious did it to protect himself, even though Ray himself was blissfully unaware of what he was missing out on. While there was no other sources of emotional pain in his life, there was also no happiness.

The only thing that ever kept Ray going was thoughts of his future. If he got good grades, then he could go to a good college, and never have to come home again. What gave Ray hope was riding down the country road in front of his house with no speed limits, swiftly cruising on his Kawasaki Ninja at over a hundred miles per hour. It was all he had left, and one of the only things left in life that truly made him happy. Ray had many regrets in his life, one was not running away sooner.


	16. Epilogue

"You have quite the track record, Ray," Reeves, the U.S. Defense attorney at the embassy said.

Ray said nothing, in the small, bare room. It had a table and two chairs, and a one way mirror, which he didn't doubt people were watching him through.

"So, what part of Russia were you born in?"

Ray still said nothing.

"You don't want to talk about your homeland?"

"Yebat vy," Ray growled.

"I don't have to speak Russian, and I know what that means."

Ray shrugged and looked at the table in front of him. He left his glass of water untouched, also in front of him were the shells of two 9mm rounds.

"They gave us the shells, so we could try and match them up. I'm not even going to ask where that gun is, now," Reeves said.

"And how do you know it was me?" Ray grunted as he shifted in his chair.

"Eyewitness accounts, your description," Reeves thumbed through a large binder. "After you went missing, there was an international campaign to find you and ensure your safe return. If I recall, there was a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar reward."

"Don't bother, my mother would never give up the rest of her inheritance for me."

"Whatever you say, tough guy," Reeves chuckled.

He grabbed a file folder and opened it.

Ray had left the Rim of Heaven with a dragon named Luca, whom he made good friends with. There was nothing in the Mountain Range that Ray could eat, and he was effectively starving himself. After his stock of canned food ran out, he would hunt yak and caribou. However, they migrated, and there was no other wildlife. The roots and mushrooms the brownies would gather made him vomit, so that was definitely out. Out of desperation, he would sometimes eat grass. The dragons were getting worried about Ray, so he and Luca flew off to a nearby village. Ray was caught stealing food and seeds, and was apprehended by the local police. After they found out who he was, he was detained and sent to the U.S. embassy.

"Murder, treason against the Russian government, and running away," Reeves looked up and down a sheet of paper. "Killing two Russian soldiers is not something to be taken lightly, Ray."

"They were going to shoot me, it was self defense," Ray looked up at Reeves. "They thought I was a spy for your government."

"They were your government, too, Ray. It says here your parents fled the country. From Moscow, if I'm not mistaken. Your brother was killed in the pro-communist rally of '97, was he not? Levi was a real fighter, the police said. Broke an arm and busted a riot shield with a baseball bat before he was shot to death. Seventeen years old, it's a terrible age to go at."

"Don't you dare talk about my brother!" Ray was hoarse with rage, standing up out of the chair. He heard commotion, and rubbing up against the door.

Reeves opened the door and spoke to several people clutching tasers, and told them to back off. Reeves went to his laptop and clicked on a red circle, stopping the recording of this interview.

"I'm not done, Ray," Reeves smiled and tapped his shoulder. "A year ago, you checked your voicemail from your cellphone." Ray's eyes widened.

"In the Himalayas?" Reeves raised his eyebrows. "Your cellphone carrier notified the missing persons foundation. Since you are a U.S. citizen, and didn't apply for dual citizenship to Russia, we had to look into it. So, I conducted a mission with two satellite operators, and we took a look at where the signals were exchanged."

Ray's heart stopped. "You better have those men come in, because I'm about to strangle you dead."

"Looks like I hit a nerve. Big, bad Ray has a soft spot, and I've got my finger on it."

He cleared his throat, and Ray sat back down.

"How long have you known?" Ray broke eye contact.

"Eight months," Reeves crossed his arms. "It's amazing, that these creatures exist."

"And what are you planning on doing, an invasion? The Chinese wouldn't like that, would they?" Ray said.

Reeves pointed his finger at Ray. "Ah, someone understands the UN," He laughed. "I've got a deal to make with you Ray. First off, only I and the two satellite operators know. We've kept it a secret until we could figure out what the best thing to do would be."

This relieved Ray, but he wasn't out of the woods yet.

"Now, the Russians and Chinese successfully tested a Thermonuclear EMP a year and a half ago, the likes of which we've never seen before. Two of these bombs could destroy the continental United States in a split second, and disable all electronics of the neighboring countries. We have reason to believe they're planning to use them in an invasion."

"Ze cold vor iss ovor, comrade," Ray said in a Russian accent.

"Maybe so, maybe not. All we know is, it's a ticking time bomb, literally, 'comrade'," Reeves replied sarcastically.

Ray looked around in thought.

"Tell you what Ray, we won't tell the Russians, or the Chinese where your friends are, and destroy all records of finding them. And, we'll forget that this ever happened. We'll take away your runaway status, and drop all criminal charges. But you're going to have to do us a little favor."

"And if I refuse?" Ray said sarcastically.

"We'll turn you over to the Russians. Your country will hate you as a traitor, and you will most likely be executed or imprisoned for the rest of your life. Not to mention, those dragons may find some choppers, maybe not American ones, but choppers all the same, landing in the valley next to that lake and ring of mountains."

Ray was quiet for a few moments. He thought of Firedrake, Sorrel, and then Luca. Could he fly back to the Rim of Heaven by himself? If Luca couldn't find his way back, would everyone think they're dead? Even worse, what if Luca was spotted, or captured? What if what Reeves told Ray wasn't the full story? What if the government knew more than he was telling him? Ray's mind raced. His best chance of seeing them again was to not be in jail for the rest of his life, or executed for that matter. He had to protect them, all the dragons and brownies, even if it meant giving his life.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I'm glad you asked," Reeves stroked his chin. "We need some information at a Russian compound about the EMPs and their abort codes, and we've decided you'd be the best person to get it for us."

"What makes you say that?" Ray asked.

"You're expendable," Reeves laughed.

"How long until I do this?" Ray questioned.

"Since we're short of time, we can brief you and train you in a week. We can have you there in a day, and out in another."

Ray looked around the room in thought. Nine days out of his life, with a possibility of dying. Be executed by his own people, or betray them?

"The President knows about you, Ray. And what you're capable of," Reeves tried to flatter him. "He personally ordered me to come here on his behalf."

"The leader of the free world was going to come talk to me, a Russian runaway thug? How dumb do you think I am?"

"Not as dumb as you look," Reeves pointed his finger at Ray. "I did speak to the president about you, though."

Ray rolled his eyes and paused, taking all this in. "I want something else for doing this."

"Oh, do you now?" Reeves cracked his knuckles.

"I want to be dropped off back at that spot in the Himalayas, along with a rifle, a sidearm, ammunition, food, and seeds for growing. Some survival gear wouldn't hurt, either."

Reeves slapped his knee and laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

"Anyone who I could get to fly you out there would crash into a mountain!"

"You want me to do this, or not?" Ray said.

"Fine, fine. We'll get your gear, and I know a guy who could parachute you in. That is, if you survive. Now come with me, you need to be briefed. Your flight to Moscow leaves tomorrow."

Ray stood up, and followed Reeves out of the room. He had no idea what he was about to get into, but he was off the hook for betraying his country, by doing it again.

"By the way," Reeves said on the walk down the hallway of the detention center. "Happy birthday."


	17. Epilogue: Chapter 2

It was a cold day in Moscow. Hunched figures patted through the snow covered sidewalks and streets, dimly lit by exotic street lights. Ray sat in an alleyway, across from the Russian Parliament building. His mission was simple, eliminate a guard and use his ID to get into the control room, and covertly eliminate anyone who gets in his way.

Ray unzipped his jacket, checking his holster for his compact, silenced MP5K, which sported a precision reflex red dot sight on the top rail. A precision reflex sight projects a red dot onto a small, glass screen. Making it much easier and faster to aim at targets.

He made sure the safety was set, and then checked his holstered Heckler and Koch USP .45 silenced handgun. He was armed with a combat knife, and three stun grenades, along with an M18 taser pistol. His equipment was a high capacity USB drive, and a security camera disruptor. The disruptor would disable the wireless transmitting security cameras of the building and cause them to loop for up to thirty minutes, giving the illusion of whoever watches that nothing is wrong. Ray cocked the USP and re-holstered it. It was no doubt going to be tricky, but with everything he'd learned in the past week to the test.

Ray waited until one am, when the guards shift would change. He remembered the blueprints of the building well. For housing some of the most secure information in Russia, it had a surprisingly low security system. Ray checked his military grade watch, which also transmitted his GPS coordinates to his superiors in the United States government. He had a radio earpiece, but he would hear nothing until he reached the control room.

It was now one in the morning, time to commence the operation. Ray approached the building, two armed guards sat side by side next to double doors. They were sporting ski masks to shield themselves from the brittle cold, and two AK-108 assault rifles.

Ray pressed the disruptor on his belt, and a green light winked at him, indicating that all security devices in the area were on loop or temporarily disrupted. There was no one on the street in front of him, so Ray didn't hesitate. He unholstered his MP5K, and eliminated the two guards. Quickly, He dragged the bodies into the alley, and swapped his jacket for one of the guard's, along with his ID card and ski mask.

Ray looked at the large, intimidating building. It looked very old, almost medieval style. However, he had no time to admire this building. He entered the double doors, walking around as if he had a purpose. There were guards here and there, but most of them thought he was a guard, and didn't even bother to check his ID.

The building was more like a library, there were many rooms stacked with data servers from floor to ceiling. Along with a large, main room lined with computers, featuring a 20 foot wide screen on one wall, with a projector showing data and statistics. At this hour, only a few people sat in the many rows of desktop computers, clothed in uniform. Ray stayed alert, and found a back room with a computer monitor on the desk. It looked to be a superior officer's office, and the door was wide open.

Ray was about to enter, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Viktor, why are you wearing your ski mask indoors, eh?" A Russian guard nudged Ray.

"Oh, am I still wearing it?" Ray said in Russian while choking his voice to disguise it.

"Is something wrong, Viktor?" The guard looked at him strange. "Aren't you supposed to be on shift right now?"

"I have a bad cold," Ray pretended to cough. "I was just looking for some aspirin to relieve my headache, think you could help me find some?"

"In there?" The guard cocked an eyebrow. "What about the infirmary?"

"Er," Ray stuttered. "I was just there, and no one was home."

"I doubt there will be anything in here, Viktor, but sure, I'll help you look."

Ray and the guard entered the room, and flicked on the lights.

"And take off your ski mask, that's just strange to be wearing it around!" The guard laughed as he went through the desk. Ray shut the door and took his ski mask off, and unholstered his silenced USP, aiming it directly at the guard's head.

The guard looked up, a frightened expression on his face. "You're not Vi-"

Ray pulled the trigger, the suppressor reducing the blast of the pistol to a small click. Ray dove and caught the guard's lifeless body before it hit the floor, and quietly let it drop to the ground. Ray sat in the chair in front of the desk, and inserted his USB drive into the computer. The screen prompted a login, but the program on the flash drive overrode it, hacking it's way into the Russian Secure Military Network.

Ray pressed his earpiece. "It's in," Ray stated. "Good," A static voice replied almost instantly. "Search for anything labeled abort codes, copy them to the drive, and get out of there."

"Understood," Ray said as he went through the network. It took several minutes, but he finally found what he was looking for. The abort codes for all Russian nukes and EMPs, he quickly copied the files onto his flash drive and pocketed it. Ray slipped his ski mask on, and then looked at the body. He said a quick prayer in Russian for forgiveness, and then headed out the door and turned the lights off.

Satisfied, but now feeling nervous, he had to exit the building before shift change. Ray holstered his USP and opened the door to another section of the building. He walked down the hallway, and passed the large room full of computers. He went past security, explaining he had just been to the infirmary. Luckily, it seemed that the guard he was posing as, Viktor, was very well liked by his fellow soldiers.

"Normally, I would have to go tell Petrov," A guard that stopped Ray said. "But for you Viktor, I can let it go for a quick trip to the infirmary. But hurry up, shift change is soon."

"Spasibo," Ray thanked the guard politely, and went out the double doors. The entire operation took about twenty minutes, giving Ray a bit of time. Ray recovered his coat and put the ski mask back on Viktor, and then ran through the alleyway, away from the Parliamentary district and disappeared into the heart of Moscow. He caught a bus to the Airport, and bought a ticket to Warsaw, Poland under his alias of Mikhail Brukowski. He made sure to pick up a suitcase that had been left for him, full of clothes and other things that didn't belong to him, in the parking deck. It would be much more suspicious to board a plane without any bags. After all, they'd think he's a terrorist. Looking around in the parking deck, he found a stairwell, and ditched his weapons in a trash can.

After the several hour flight, he stepped off the plane at Warsaw Frédéric Chopin Airport. A man in a black overcoat was holding a sign that read "Brukowski." It was Reeves.

Ray left his suitcase up against a wall, and then walked to Reeves, who was smiling.

"You did good," Reeves said. "Now, hand it over."

Ray handed the drive over to Reeves. "Just don't forget my end of the deal."

"Oh, I haven't, if you'll come with me, you have some business with the Airforce to take care of."

"If it's not that flight to the Himalayas, I'm going to stomp on a kitten."

"Well Ray, that kitten will live to see another day."

"And those records and satellite photos?"

"Deleted," Reeves responded.

"And how do I know you did that?"

"You don't, you'll just have to take my word for it."

"I don't understand why you gave up being the discoverer of dragons, to get me to go do your dirty work," Ray shrugged.

"I may not look like it, but I have a heart," Reeves held Ray's shoulder as they walked to their next flight. "Politics can be more important than those dragons anyway, but you probably wouldn't understand."

"You're right, I wouldn't," Ray sighed.

Reeves cellphone vibrated, and he took it out of his coat pocket and held it up to his ear.

"Yes?" He said as he walked with Ray.

"He is, would you care to speak with him? Of course, sir." Reeves handed the phone to Ray. Ray looked at it, and then at Reeves, wondering what was going on.

"Hello?" Ray tried to say in a neutral accent, with no Russian or southern.

"Mr. Sokolov, it's good to hear your voice."

Ray paused. "Who am I speaking with?"

"Barack Obama," he laughed.

Ray's eyes widened. "Mr. President?

"Yes, I thought I should at least thank you personally for what you've done."

"You mean, betray my country, and murder again to keep myself free? In that case, you're quite welcome, Mr. President," Ray replied bitterly.

"Politics can be a dirty thing, I don't think it's something you should get involved with when you get older," The president responded.

"What is wrong with the world today?" Ray sighed.

"Listen Ray, you did a good thing. The amount of lives you've saved will mean nothing compared to the men you've put down."

"Yeah, maybe the American lives. What about my people? When are you going to Moscow, then?" Ray growled.

"In due time, if they decide to launch their nukes. We know they're planning something, Russia and China, but we don't know what. All we know is, it's happening soon. I couldn't get Mr. Reeves to tell me where you're going, but if you ever come back, you have the United States government backing you up. Meaning, I've made you a very rich man. We've set up a bank account for you, you'll receive the information later. There is ten million U.S. dollars on the account, to do with however you please."

"Donate it to charity," Ray responded immediately.

The president paused. "Of course. Now I'd best be going, good luck to you Ray."

"Good bye, Mr. President," Ray hung up the phone.

Reeves looked astonished, seeing as Ray had just told off the President of the United States and gave up a fortune.

"You really like to push it, don't you?" Reeves pocketed his cellphone.

"I try," Ray said.

Reeves accompanied Ray on the next flight, which transferred him to Kazakhstan, and then finally to Pakistan, at an American base. He met up with an American pilot at the airfield, who was holding a parachute in his hands.

"Are you Reeves' boy?" The pilot asked.

"Yep," Ray said as he hauled his gear down the runway.

"Wait, you're Ray Sokolov!" The pilot gasped. "No wonder I was ordered to keep quiet about doing this."

"What, am I a global celebrity now?" Ray replied.

"No, just a missing person that everyone in the world knows about by now."

He was given a military pack, along with an M4 carbine and an M9 double action handgun. His backpack was filled with military grade survival gear, seeds, and enough food to last him until his crops would finish growing. They had given him a digital camouflage coat and pants, with light brown boots. Completely decked out in military gear, and satisfied that he had protected the location of the Rim of Heaven, he was ready to return there for good.

"One more bag for you," The pilot tossed Ray a parachute, which clipped onto his military pack.

"Thanks," Ray replied, and stepped into the small, single engine aircraft. As it started up, the pilot tried to make conversation with Ray.

"If you don't mind me asking, why am I being ordered to drop you in the middle of nowhere and be jailed if I even speak of doing this?"

"I'm afraid that information is classified," Ray said in his best American military accent.

"Fine, don't tell me," The pilot shrugged.

After nine hours, they were flying over the Himalayas. And finally, the pilot turned to Ray.

"This is your stop!" The pilot said through the Radio headset. Ray had never parachuted before, but he was told it was as simple as jumping out of a plane and pulling a cord, which didn't really help him much. The pilot handed Ray a full face helmet, which reminded Ray of his motorcycle helmet. It had a visor that could lift up, and it was solid black. Ray strapped it on, removing his radio headset.

The pilot put an altimeter on Ray's wrist, which looked more like a watch than anything else. It had a digital display, and would tell him how far it was to the ground below via infrared signals and reading the pressure of the air around him.

"When it reads two thousand feet, pull the cord!" The pilot yelled over the noise of the propellor. Ray looked out the window. Nine mountains, surrounding a crescent shaped lake with woodland and fields stretching for miles was just north of him. It was daytime, and as such, there were no dragons streaking across the sky. He recognized the Rim of Heaven immediately, but instructed the pilot to let him parachute several miles away, so he wouldn't spook the dragons. There was a field, surrounded by some white capped mountain peaks, which looked to be Ray's landing zone. If he did survive the landing, it was going to be at least a day's hike, unless the wind permits or a passing dragon sees him.

Ray slid open the door and looked down, suddenly regaining his vertigo. But after all this, he couldn't just not jump out of fear. Ray took a deep breath, drew an imaginary cross on his chest with his finger, and bailed out of the plane.


	18. Epilogue: Chapter 3

Epilogue Chapter 3

"It's perfect," Ray said out loud, astonished.

"I thought you might like it," Patrick laughed. "I pass by it every day, I figured maybe you could ditch the civic and finally have a bike like you've always dreamed."

Ray was in Patrick's car, pulled over at a car dealership. There were assorted cars, trucks, sports cars, and work vans, as well as a few ATV's, dirt bikes, and motorcycles.

Ray opened the door and walked towards the motorcycle he had been eyeing, and patrick followed. Immediately, a man in a suit looked up from a lawn chair, and approached them.

"Well hello there, boys," the sales man said. "My name's Lyle, what can I do for ya'?"

"Huh?" Ray looked up from the bike. Lyle laughed. "Are you in love, young man?"

"He might be," Patrick smiled and shook the Lyle's hand. "I'm Patrick, and this is my friend Ray. He's looking for a good first bike."

"Well, this might be the bike for you, Ray," Lyle shook Ray's hand. "Do you have any riding experience?"

"Um," Ray paused.

"Sure he does, he's ridden dirt bikes at my house since we were kids, just not on the street."

"Right," Ray regained his confidence and looked back up at the man. The motorcycle was a sportbike, with a polished, burnt orange color. There were still lines made of chalk on the tires, indicating that it was only factory tested. Ray glanced at the odometer, noting it only had 12 miles, likely for factory testing.

"Well, this here is a 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 500R. It's a 500cc, and it's in mint condition."

Ray gripped the handle bars and sat down firmly, knocking it off it's centerstand and feeling his weight on it."

"Well? What do you think?" Lyle dangled a pair of keys in front of Ray's face.

Ray took the keys and turned the key, remembering the controls from Patrick's dirt bike. He pressed the ignition, and it started right up, purring gently as it's engine reached idle speed.

"Why don't you take her for a test ride up and down the block?" Lyle nudged Ray.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ray asked.

"You break it, you buy it, kid," Lyle laughed.

Ray put it in first gear, and uneasily let out the clutch, slowly moving across the parking lot. As he gained speed, he shifted to second, then third, then fourth, until he realized how much power this bike had. He jolted back and forth with every shift, because he wasn't used to the clutch. As Patrick and Lyle looked on, they could only watch as Ray smiled, and then took off down the street.

"Uh," Lyle's smiled faded. "Is he going to come back?"

"Hey, you let him take the bike," Patrick shrugged.

Ray dodged traffic, running red lights, grinning ear to ear. This was the bike for him. He turned around, and headed back into the dealership, his hair blown back like he had just taken off for space.

"I'll take it!" Ray laughed, feeling the bulge of his wallet in his back pocket.

"Ray?" Someone was shaking him.

"Huh?" Ray opened his eyes, his memories drifting away as if the wind had blown them away like a cloud of smoke.

It was Sorrel, with a panicked expression on her face.

"Come quick, something's going on."

Out of instinct, Ray grabbed his rifle and put his shoes on, then followed Sorrel outside the cave. As he got closer to the outside, he could hear it. A faint, thrumming sound. It was day time, and off towards the horizon, a black dot was getting closer and closer to the valley in the Rim of Heaven. Ray could see dragons standing by the crescent shaped lake, watching it come into view.

"What is it, Ray?" Firedrake walked out of the entrance to the caves, standing behind Ray and Sorrel. He said nothing, waiting until it came closer.

"It's a helicopter," Ray gasped. "It's a military one, I saw some of these before that plane dropped me back off here."

"They followed you back?" Sorrel replied.

"I don't know," Ray looked at his rifle. "I'm about to find out."

He took off running, sliding down the slope to the valley, where the helicopter was likely to land. Firedrake followed, and the dragons and brownies watched them in wonder. The helicopter was so close now, Ray could read the markings on it's side. "US ARMY."

"We made a deal," Ray thought to himself angrily.

The helicopter circled once, and seemed to acknowledge Ray's presence. Firedrake was close behind him, looking on. The helo descended, landing in the tall grass about 50 yards from Ray, kicking up dirt and the wind from the rotors pushing waves of grass.

It touched down, and gradually it's rotors slowed to a stop, ceasing to toss dust everywhere. Ray held his rifle down, not knowing if he was about to be shot.

A door slid open, and two soldiers, clothed in the same digital camo as Ray was, since he was given the gear by Reeves, stepped out, fully armed. They helped someone else out, wearing a black suit, glasses, a tie, and a briefcase. It was Reeves.

"He better have a good explanation for this," Ray murmured, and began walking towards them, raising his hand in the air.

"Don't shoot!" Ray called to them. The soldiers aimed their rifles at Ray. "Drop your weapon!" Ray stopped in his tracks, angry, but was about to comply, when Reeves said something to the soldiers, and then motioned him over.

"Reeves," Ray said. "What are you doing here? We had a deal!"

"What deal?" Firedrake asked Reeves.

"How did you- never mind," Ray sighed.

The soldiers escorting Reeves seemed uneasy about a dragon standing over them, so he ordered them to stay in the helicopter, and not to fire on anyone.

"The name's Reeves," he nodded at Firedrake. "Ray, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Ugh," Ray exhaled. "Reeves, this is Firedrake."

"Pleasure to meet you," Firedrake smiled. "But I must ask, what are you doing here, does this have anything to do with Ray?"

"I'm afraid it does, and it has something to do with all of you," Reeves frowned.

"I'd better get Slatebeard," Firedrake turned around and began walking back to the caves. Ray felt all eyes on him when Firedrake left, from the dragons and brownies across the valley.

"Um, you'd better just come with me," Ray took Reeves up to the caves and caught up with Firedrake."

They had set up a meeting place in the giant chamber with Nettlebrand's skull. Ray, Firedrake, Sorrel, Slatebeard, and many dragons and brownies crowded the area so they could hear.

"Ray, I never had a chance to tell you," Reeves said, in his suit that was a clean black, now a dusty tan from all the ground that the helicopter kicked up. "Your actions may have actually prevented World War Three."

Ray looked at him, but didn't say anything. "Here," Reeves pulled a file with some information on it and gave it to Ray.

It featured codes, photos, and statistics, along with several news articles.

"We weren't wrong about Russia and China planning to use those EMPs to take down the United States economy and infrastructure," He said. "With the information your provided us with, we had proof. We stopped the attack before it happened, and when it went public, both the Russian prime minister and Chinese president were ousted from office, and will be on trial for war crimes."

"This is for real?" Ray looked at the paper, and then at a video on Reeves's laptop. It was Red Square in Moscow, people were rioting and revolting, he picked up chants in Russian demanding the prime minister step down. Riot squads were sent out to deal with the angry mobs, but joined the protestors, and then a helicopter took off from the Kremlin, likely containing a fleeing prime minister. The video looked like it had been taken from a camera phone.

"Hello," Ray and Reeves turned to Slatebeard. "I am Slatebeard, I am one of the oldest dragons here. Firedrake mentioned to me that you had a message, could you please explain to me what it is?"

"I'd be happy to," Reeves stood up and straightened his glasses. Several months ago, your friend Ray was arrested by police when he was in a village south of here."

"I work for the government in a country called the United States of America, which is where Ray is from."

"Well, get on with it," Sorrel jumped in. "What's going on then?"

"Yes, well, when they found out he was an American citizen, but didn't have dual citizenship to his homeland of Russia, they sent him to the American Embassy, and I just happened to be in China at the time."

"Months before that, Ray had used his cellphone here, and with a satellite passing overhead, he was able to obtain a signal for a short time. When he ran away with Firedrake, he was reported as missing when his mother returned home. So, I was given the task to be in charge of tracing the signal to find where Ray was. There are satellites above the sky in space, which allow us to photograph the earth from above, and talk to people in other countries. I and two others traced his signal and discovered this valley, but we kept it secret. We didn't know exactly what we were getting into, or who we should tell, but we looked into it for the next few months. We photographed the valley, the inhabitants, and then a young man who appeared to have befriended them. Then, Ray showed up in my office."

"We're aware of that," Ray nodded.

"Yes, anyway, I may have used a bit of a dirty tactic to grant Ray his freedom, and to keep this place a secret."

There were murmurs among the dragons and brownies.

"What sort of, 'dirty tactic?'" Slatebeard raised an eyebrow.

"I made a deal with Ray, to break into a Russian government building, steal information for us, and eliminate anyone who got in his way. He succeeded, and with that information we stopped a world war before it happened."

"Is this true, Ray?" Slatebeard frowned.

"Yes," Ray nodded. "I killed three men that day, I did it to protect the Rim of Heaven, and so I could come back. I lost a part of myself that day, doing that to my own people," he glared at Reeves. "Why did you come here, anyway? Did you just want to remind me of what I've done?"

"No, I just that that it would be important that everyone is up to speed. First of all, as promised, I deleted all information and photographs relating the the Rim of Heaven. It was like it was never discovered. I made the two other satellite operators swear themselves to secrecy, or else they would be executed for treason. Same with the soldiers and the pilot with me today."

"You always say these things with nothing to back you up," Ray argued. "Whatever, continue."

"Yes, and this is what I'm here for today," Reeves cleared his throat. "After the files were deleted, I discovered something from one of the satellite operators whom I discovered this place with. When the files on our computer system are deleted, they go to a server to be backed up where they are kept indefinitely, in case they may be needed again. That server was hacked by an amateur Chinese hacker, and I have no doubt he has the photographs, GPS coordinates, and everything I had on Ray."

"Meaning?" Firedrake asked, confused.

"Someone knows dragons exist, and has the photographs and location of this valley to prove it."

Ray was silent for a few seconds, and then stood up, glaring at Reeves. He balled his hand into a fist, and then punched Reeves square across the face. Reeves fell to the ground, shattering a lens of his glasses and blood crept down his face.

Ray unholstered his Beretta M9, cocked it, and aimed it at Reeve's head.

"Ray!" Firedrake Pushed Ray to the ground, but he stood back up. "No, now wait just a second!" Ray growled to Reeves. "You sent me on a suicide mission to betray my country, where I murdered three men, just so that I could do what's right. You could have let me go, you could have let me had my freedom, you could have done the right thing. We had a deal Reeves, and you didn't keep up your end of the bargain!"

"I did delete them, weren't you listening?" Reeves coughed. "How was I supposed to know about the server?"

"You're the defense attorney for the United States, how could you not!" Ray yelled angrily.

"Alright, break it up, you two," Luca stood between Ray and Reeves on the floor, and helped him up. While Ray wasn't looking, a brownie grabbed his Beretta out of his hand, leaving Ray unarmed.

Reeves stood up, wiping blood on his pants. "Ray, I know what I did cost you a piece of yourself, but what I had you do was for the good faith of humanity. The amount of lives you saved from what happened, you couldn't even comprehend."

"Fine," Ray sighed. "So you came here to warn us, is that it?"

"That, and something else before you gave me a shiner," Reeves held a hand over his black eye.

"Ray, I came to ask you for another favor."

"Oh, here we go," Ray sighed.

"No, listen to me," Reeves replied. "I can't legally send anyone with military status to China to take care of the hacker that has the information regarding this valley, plus other sensitive top secret information. If I were to send one of our special forces, the UN would surely find out. But you, a civilian, you're invisible. What I had you do last time would have had you, me, and a whole lot more people put on war crimes by the UN. I'm asking you to do it again."

"No!" Ray shouted. "Not again, I'll never kill anyone innocent again."

"I risked my career and life to come here and warn you! I'm offering a chance to arm you, train you, and give you all the resources necessary to execute this hacker, and destroy the information before he has a chance to react."

"What if Ray doesn't do it?" Slatebeard asked.

"Then," Reeves sighed. "I have no doubt the humans in the countries surrounding this area will send their militaries here to capture you for study, since they aren't aware of dragons, brownies, or other mythical creatures existing."

Ray turned away, crossing his arms. Reeves approached him and put his hand on his shoulder. "Ray, I know I put you through more than any human being should have to go through in a lifetime. I know about your brother, and your family back in the states after what happened."

"Yeah," Ray looked at the ground, feeling manipulated. "You were quick to mention my brother when I met you, too."

"When I read everything we had on you, your story stunned me. How could someone your age go through so much? I know what I'm asking here is a lot. But I came here giving you a choice, Ray. If you successfully complete it, I'll make sure you're sent back here safely."

"So, what's it going to be Ray?" Firedrake asked Ray.

All eyes were on Ray, which made him nervous. He stepped back, and looked at the ground.

"I..." Ray stuttered. "I-"


	19. Epilogue: Chapter 4

May 23, 2010 Atlanta, Ga

It was a humid summer day. Atlanta was shrouded in haze, as always, and those entering the city on the interstate could barely distinguish the skyscrapers from the sky.

Ray's Kawasaki Ninja cruised forward, weaving in between traffic. He kept his eyes peeled for police cars, but kept up his crazy maneuvers. Pulling off onto an exit, Ray noticed a police car pass by under the overpass, likely looking for him after a frightened motorist called 911. Ray smiled, and rode into Buckhead, Atlanta's richer district.

There were many sports cars parked on the streets, and a lot more police. They figured protecting the rich, rather than patrolling the crime-ridden streets south, was a better use of their time.

Ray slowed, turning onto a residential street, shifting down into first as he did so. Ray squeezed the clutch and shifted up half a click, coasting in neutral to a stop in front of a large mansion. A skinny, blond girl awaited him. She was finally wearing jeans, as whenever they rode together, she always wore miniskirts or shorts. Which not only looked revealing when she had to put her legs on the passenger's pegs, but gave no protection. Her long hair bounced up and down as she stepped off the curb towards Ray. Her clothes were clean and pressed, and all designer brand. Ray had only met her parents once, but he knew they didn't like him, probably because of the motorcycle.

Ray untied a helmet off the side of his motorcycle, and threw it to her.

"Samantha," Ray flipped up his visor.

"Hey, Ray," Samantha said in a sing song voice. She took Ray's helmet off, and they shared a brief kiss.

"I've been really busy, I'm sorry I haven't been around," Ray smiled.

"Me too," Samantha blushed, and tied the helmet on, flipping down the visor. Ray put his helmet on, and shifted into gear, turning around towards the city, the sun getting closer to the horizon.

Ray rode to Piedmont Park. He parked and tied the helmets down to the side of the bike. He took Samantha and they lay down in the grass, to watch the sunset. Even though he was happy to be with Samantha, he had a lot on his mind.

A dragon has just landed in his front yard, he was almost shot by Georgia's finest, he smooth talked his way out of getting arrested and being discovered, his boss wasn't happy with how little hours he's been working, Sorrel had eaten almost all his food, along with trashing his house, and then he was still wondering if this "Ben Greenbloom" guy was ever going to respond to him.

"I'm just glad you actually showed up this time," Samantha said.

"I know," Ray nodded. "I'm glad I did, too."

"So when you mentioned you were busy with," Samantha sat up. "Stuff, what kind of stuff do you mean?"

"Um," Ray stammered. "Work, you know. The usual. Bob's had a lot of bikes he's needed me to fix lately."

"I thought you told me your boss was about to go bankrupt?"

"Oh," Ray stuttered. "I-uh," Ray said as he checked his phone, noting the time.

"Damn!" Ray thought. Firedrake and Sorrel are probably up by now, and he just keeps leaving without telling them. He needed to be there for them.

Ray stood up, putting on his motorcycle gloves and zipping up his jacket.

"What?" Samantha stood up. "Where are you going?"

"I gotta go," Ray kicked his bike off his kickstand and put his helmet on.

Samantha stood there, with her hands on her hips.

"You always do this, Ray!" She pouted.

"I'm sorry, I'll call you. We'll hang out again soon, I promise!" Ray shouted as he rode away.

Ray reflected on what had happened the entire way home. "Samantha should get over it, she always does," Ray thought.

Ray pulled into his driveway, removing his helmet after he parked. He caught Firedrake and Sorrel just as they were waking up in his garage. He walked in to greet them, and sat down on a box.

"Welcome back," Firedrake yawned. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, nowhere," Ray smiled.

"What's that smell?" Sorrel sniffed, coming closer and sniffing his jacket.

Ray could smell it now, it was perfume, which probably rubbed off on him from Samantha.

"And what's that on your face?" Sorrel giggled.

"What?" Ray checked his face in one of the mirrors on his motorcycle. There were lipstick stains, in the shape of lips, on one side of his face. Self consciously, he wiped it off on his sleeve.

"It's nothing, really," Ray turned red.

"I uh, I have some homework I have to do. Call me if you need something, heheh," and awkwardly shuffled inside his house.

"What was that all about?" Firedrake asked.

"Ray's got a girlfriend, can't you tell?" She laughed.

"Hey, I can hear you!" Ray said through his upstairs window, looking down at the garage.

"So, when are we going to meet her?" Sorrel teased.

"Sorrel!" Firedrake scolded her.

Ray rolled his eyes and shut the window, laughing.

Somewhere outside Hong Kong, China

"Hey, you there?" Reeves waved a hand in front of his face. Ray had been waiting on Reeves in his office for what seemed like ages, and finally he showed up.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I had to pull some information together for you, and then the General called me, going on and on about how he needed more troops in Afghanistan."

Ray stopped day dreaming about the past, sitting up and straightening his shirt.

"Whatever. You gonna give me a gun now?" Ray said, frustrated.

"I'm not just going to give you a gun, young man," Reeves opened a black case at the bottom of his desk. He withdrew a Glock 18, and screwed a silencer on the end.

"I'm letting you borrow mine," Reeves tossed it to Ray, who caught it with his quick reflexes.

"Don't you have people specially trained to do what you're having me do?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, but we can't replace them," Reeves said.

"Oh, right."

"And, we're breaking a lot of international laws on espionage and whatnot. If you were found out to be working for me, it could surely start a war."

"Just make sure these files aren't placed anywhere else, if there's even one copy left, there's always a chance someone might find it."

"I'm doing the best I can. I've looked into it, and I had all files on the server where our files are deleted cleared, all you need to do is destroy the evidence."

"Yeah, let me go find one guy in an entire city, kill him, set his house on fire, and then leave without being discovered. I think I have a decent chance of pulling it off," Ray said bitterly.

"I know we're sending you out there with insufficient training, no military experience, and you haven't even been to basic combat training, but I believe you have a good chance of pulling this off, based on last time."

Reeves opened a cabinet, giving Ray some gear and civillian clothing to change into. Plain blue jeans, a plain black jacket, white sneakers. Nothing that would make him stand out. Underneath the jacket, there was a shoulder holster, expertly concealing the Glock 18, but allowing quick access to it if needed.

"Here," Reeves handed two metal rods and a lighter to Ray, and then he realized what they were.

"Pipe bombs?" Ray exclaimed. "Isn't this dangerous, just to be holding?"

"Oh don't be such a baby," Reeves replied. "They won't go off unless you light the end, or hit them too hard. Just two of these should be enough to burn the entire place down."

Ray uneasily slid them into side compartments of his jacket.

"One more thing," Reeves handed Ray a photograph and a cell phone. The photograph was of a young Chinese man, with a caption of "Wei Long."

"This is the hacker. The cell phone has his address preprogrammed into it's GPS, but it may not be a good idea to try to break into his apartment. Wait until he leaves, but I'm leaving this up to you. For all we know, he could have uploaded this to the internet by now."

"I'll do my best," Ray said, picking up his train ticket off Reeves' desk. They were already in China, Ray only had a short train ride to downtown Hong Kong before he could commence the operation.

Ray was about to leave Reeves' office, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, I'm doing everything I can to help them, too. If you run into any trouble while doing this, give me a call and I'll see what I can do. But keep in mind, there's no back up. For all anyone knows, you're a Russian terrorist."

Ray nodded, and then left for his train.

"And call me when you've finished!" Reeves called after him.

After the train ride, he had made into the heart Hong Kong, one of China's busiest port cities. It was larger, and noisier, than any city Ray had ever been in before. There were skyscrapers, many more than Atlanta had, and signs with strange symbols Ray had never seen before. Ray followed the GPS, trying his best to blend in, to the apartment complex Wei Long lived.

His GPS indicated he was there, and he leaned up against a building, as throngs of Chinese people moved on the street, chattering and hollering in their native language.

Ray was going to take everything slow, blending in the best he could, it would be difficult considering he was probably one of the only few white people in the city.

Ray studied the photograph of Wei, memorizing it clearly and then scanning the street. What was he going to do, wait around for this guy to come out of his house? What if he wasn't even home? Was this even the right place?

Ray's mind raced, but he stayed there, leaning up against the building across from the apartment complex. After an hour, it began getting dark. And then, the moment he'd been waiting for.

A gaunt, skinny looking man, walked out of the apartment complex, carrying a messenger bag.

Ray looked at the photo, and then at the man. It was Wei Long, alright. He crossed the street, and blended in with more crowds of people, breaking off whenever Long changed directions. Long seemed paranoid, and often looked over his shoulder, but Ray blended into the public, and avoided detection. Then finally, he got his moment. Long had begun walking down an empty street, and there was an alley way between several buildings he could run through to catch him.

Ray broke away from the group walking he was blending in with, and dashed down the alley way, turned a corner, and began to wait. Long was walking steadfastly towards him. After he got close enough, Ray grabbed him, and threw him into the alley way, unholstering his Glock all in one swift movement.

Frightened, the man started gasping for breath, chattering incoherently in Chinese.

"Wei Long," Ray said.

The man continued to speak Chinese and shook his head. Ray pulled out the photograph, and showed it to Long.

"You're my target, don't think you could fool me that easy. If you value your life, you'll speak to me in English."

"O-okay, please," Long stuttered in a strong, Chinese accent. "What do you want from me?"

Ray took the man's bag, which contained several CD's and a laptop. He broke each of the CD's in half, throwing them into a dumpster, and then took the laptop.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Long said.

Ray smashed the laptop on the ground, the glass shattering. He cocked the Glock 18, and then unleashed a barrage of 9mm rounds, the silencer reducing each shot to a small click. The hard drive was definitely destroyed, so Ray tossed the laptop into the dumpster.

"I'm sorry," Ray held the handgun up to Long's head. "But you know too much."

"No, please!" Long pleaded for his life.

Ray was about to pull the trigger. "Wait!" Long panted.

"I know who you are!"

"Then who am I?" Ray replied.

"That Russian kid, who went missing last year. I saw you in the photographs, next to those, those," Long struggled for a word. "Dragons."

"Then you know why I'm doing this," Ray answered.

"Please, don't do this," Long put his hands over his face, and began to sob.

"I won't tell anybody!"

Ray thought for a moment, and started to get anxious. What if someone started walking on the street in front of the alley? He needed to finish this soon.

"Give me the keys to your apartment," Ray ordered. Immediately, Long complied.

"Here, take them," Long exhaled.

"Now get out of here. Leave this city, change your name, never come back here again. And if I ever hear that this information goes public, I will track you down, and I will kill you. Do you understand?" Ray asked firmly.

"Y-yes, yes, I do. Thank you!" Long exited the alleyway, running away quickly.

"I just made a huge mistake," Ray sighed, and headed back to Long's apartment. Ray turned the key in the lock and entered. There was a computer station set up, with several monitors, but with the discs that were in Long's bag, it was likely he had copies of the files, but Ray didn't have time to look for all them. Since he had the chance, he might as well see what kind of files Reeves was trying to keep from being discovered.

Ray sat down at the computer, Long had left it logged in. Though everything was in Chinese, Ray managed to find the files Long had hacked, since they were some of the only documents in english, and therefore easy to find amongst all the Chinese symbols. As he scrolled through the documents, there were reports about unlawful spending of taxpayer money, failed assassination attempts, and civilian casualties from air strikes in the United States most recent war campaign.

Then, he found files that actually meant something to him. They were satellite photographs, containing labels and coordinates of latitude and longitude. Some of the photos were of the dragons, almost all were during the day. Ray recognized himself in some of the photos, one was even detailed enough to make out his face. After doing some more investigation, Ray found that this computer was still connected to the United States Armed Forces Secure Network, using a hacked username and password. What caught his eye was that the Username was "." Ray logged into the network through a console, and then searched his own name.

Username: Alexander Reeves  
Password: ********  
Connecting to United_States_Armed_Forces_Secure_Network  
Connection Established  
Logging in as Alexander Reeves  
Login Accepted  
Search: Ray Sokolov  
Opening RaySokolovPF

United States Central Intelligence Agency

Personal File 132.18

Name: Sokolov, Raymond  
Aliases: Соколов, Реймонд  
Date of Birth: 09/22/1993 (17) [Minor]  
Nationality: Russian  
Hometown: Moscow, Russia  
Citizenship: United States of America  
Height: 6ft 1in  
Weight: 180lbs  
Tattoos/scars/birthmarks: None  
Hair color: Brown  
Eye Color: Brown  
Ethnicity: Caucasian  
Nationality: Russian  
Religious affiliation: N/a  
Languages Spoken: Russian, English  
Current Location: N/a  
Military Experience: Classified  
Status: Civilian Runaway/Fugitive  
SSN: ***-**-****  
Last seen: Atlanta, Ga 6/2/2010 buying canned food, survival gear, and .223 ammunition from Walmart and Roe's Arms and Supply Co. Highway 29 Atlanta, Ga

Current Infractions: Runaway [1], Underage use of Tobacco Products [11], Verbally Threatening an Officer of the Law [2], Driving Under Influence of Alcohol [1], Treason Against the Russian Federation [2] Resisting Arrest [2], Speeding [3], Possession of illegal Firearms [2], Underage use of Alcohol [2], Forging Signature of Parental Guardian on Legal Document [17], Grand Theft [1], Illegal Immigration [5], Murder in the First Degree of Foreign Armed Forces [2], Falsifying Information [3], Withholding information from the Government [2], Assaultive Battery on an Officer of the Law [1]  
Total infractions: 57 counts

In 1997, it is believed that Sokolov was smuggled out of Russia by the Russian Mafia with his parents, Vlad and Nataliya Sokolov, after Vlad Sokolov fled charges of murder in the second degree.

Ray Sokolov is believed to be armed with a 9mm FMK handgun, a .223 Semi automatic high powered rifle, or an AK-103 assault rifle believed to belong to one of the Russian Soldiers he murdered outside of the Kalashiknov Base on the Bering Sea in east Russia, a month after believed to have run away from his home in the Metro Atlanta area. He is considered highly dangerous and is believed to be hiding in his hometown, Moscow, or East Russia.

Reward for information leading to Arrest: $250,000.00 US Dollars

Ref. 134.12: At Lattitude 34.1035' N, 78.3841' E on 09/04/2010 at approximately 21:04 hours, cell phone carrier AT&T notified the Missing Person's Foundation that Ray Sokolov had attempted to check his voice mail from his cellphone. A passing satellite made this possible, and coordinates were given responsibility to US Defense attorney Alexander Reeves, and Nasa Satellite Crew Bravo for investigation. The investigation was completed on 11/14/10 but remains classified. Reeves noted that Sokolov appeared to be living amongst strange creatures, some described as "humans with fur, walking upright," and creatures he could only describe as being "dragons." Investigation is classified. A security clearance is required to to view the investigation data and all attempts to access them are logged, see Ref. 139.21  
end

Ray had seen enough now. He withdrew the two pipe bombs from his pockets, flicking the lighter in his other hand. Hopefully, he could pull this off without blowing himself up. Ray lit both fuses at the same time, tossing one towards the back of the apartment, and then another at the computer desk. Frantically, he burst out of the door, and a massive fireball erupted from behind him, setting the apartment ablaze. The explosion was massive, the sound shattering several windows. The second pipe bomb detonated after the first explosion, sending a pillar of fire out a side window.

As Ray ran from the building, panting and gasping for breath, passersby on the street looked at him suspiciously, after looking at the fire that was so seeping out of the window of Wei Long's apartment and he had just burst out of the complex. Ray could see several people with cell phones clasped up against their ears.

They were calling the police. Ray hadn't planned for this, it was supposed to be a stealthy entrance, and stealthy exit. Ray had expected he would get more distance before the fuses ran out, but Reeves must not have planned this too well.

It was useless now to try to blend in or remain in a low profile, Ray dashed from the scene, making his way through another alley way. He exited the alley way to a parking lot, where a few spaces away from him a man was strapping a helmet onto his head. Ray glanced at the bike, it was a silver Suzuki GSXR, already cranked up and ready to run with the key in the ignition. He didn't hesitate.

Ray unholstered his still silenced Glock 18, aiming at the man about to get on the Suzuki.

Ray ran up to him and yanked the helmet off his head, aiming the weapon at him the entire time. The biker shrieked in Chinese, cursing in his native language as he ran away. Bystanders looked on curiously, again dialing police, but they were already approaching the scene. There were distant sirens, responding to the fire at Wei Long's apartment, and the armed caucasian male who ran from the scene and bike jacked a motorcyclist.

Ray quickly strapped the helmet onto his head. It was a little bit small, but it would do. He quickly mounted the bike, shifting slowly at first to get used to its clutch, and then gave the bike more gas, speeding away from the scene. It had been a long time since Ray had ridden a motorcycle, but he still remembered how. His hands and feet never forgot how to shift a gear, do a wheelie, or burnout. As he ran a red light, a police car with its siren on was already speeding towards where Ray was coming from, and made a U-Turn around to follow him.

As he dodged traffic, Ray turned onto a sidewalk, shocked pedestrians scrambled out of his way, with the police car still in suit.

Suddenly, Ray heard a loud pop behind him. In the mirror, the police officer chasing him had rolled down his window, and started firing at him with a handgun.

"I guess there's no need for a silencer now," Ray thought, and managed to unscrew the silencer, which decreased the range and accuracy of an already close ranged and inaccurate weapon.

Several police cars converged on him, but Ray used the traffic to his advantage. A police car got too close to him, and the passenger was aiming his weapon at Ray's rear tire. Ray unholstered the Glock 18, turning around and spraying a cloud of bullets at the car, a rapid series of pops echoed off the buildings around him. Ray didn't know if he'd hit either of them, but the police car turned to avoid the fire, and struck an oncoming vehicle.

The situation was beginning to seem hopeless, everywhere he looked there were cars with flashing lights, motorcycle officers, and the thrumming of a helicopter was only getting louder and louder.

If a helicopter was involved, it would be next to impossible to escape. A motorcycle cop began approaching on his rear, and fired at him.

A bullet pinged off the side of the bike, leading a deep bullet hole. Ray turned around and returned fire, causing the officer to wipe out. In his rear view mirror, Ray could see the officer get up, limping off the street clasping his bloody jacket, making a mental note that his Glock 18 was almost out of ammo, and it wouldn't be easy to reload on a motorcycle while everyone is out to get him.

Ray was too busy watching behind him, and dodging traffic, he wasn't paying attention to the roadblock that had formed ahead of him. Ray spotted a break in between police cars that he may be able to fit through, and powered through it, throwing the officers off. About a second after clearing the roadblock, Ray heard a metallic bang, and felt extreme pain in his lower torso.

He growled in pain, losing control of the bike and crashing to the pavement. Road rash covered his arms and legs. After hitting the pavement at such speed, he felt his left arm crack under pressure, and screamed in pain. He could barely use his fingers, and laid motionless on the pavement. He was shot in the torso, and broke his arm. Ray could barely move. He struggled to his feet, when he saw Hong Kong's finest approaching him from the road block he'd just cleared. Barely keeping his balance, he stared down the barrels of so many weapons. Now that he was injured, there was nothing else he could do.

From a side street, a black sedan with tinted windows pulled out in front of Ray and screeched to a halt. An MP5A1 submachine gun protruded from the driver's side window, crackling gunfire at all the officers surround Ray. Bodies dropped to the ground, leaving only Ray standing.

The windows were all tinted, and where Ray was facing he couldn't see who was inside. The driver rolled down the passenger side window, it was Reeves.

"Reeves?" Ray cried.

"Get in!" Reeves cried. Ray limped over to the sedan, Reeves opening the door for him.

"I thought you might need some back up," Reeves said, as he spun the car around and drove away, speeding off before anyone else could see what happened. Ray clutched his broken arm, blood gushed from his bullet wound.

"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" Ray said through clenched teeth.

"I was in special forces," Reeves explained. "Back when they used to let you keep your weapons after you ended active duty," He gestured to the MP5, and to the Glock 18 in Ray's shoulder holster.

Ray laid back in the seat, dripping blood everywhere. Reeves pulled over after he made sure no one was following them, applied first aid to Ray, and injected him with a fast acting pain killer.

"Now, let's get you to a doctor," Reeves put the car back in gear and headed to a poorer district, parking in front of a run down building.

The doctor's office Ray was stitched up in was dirtier than a truck stop bathroom. Ray's arm was splinted, and he was given strong pain killers until he could receive better care.

Reeves said something in Chinese to the doctor that treated Ray, and handed him a wad of American 100 dollar bills.

Reeves escorted Ray back to the US embassy. Ray couldn't go to any real hospital in the area, it would be too suspicious after the shoot out and chase with police. For now, he had to endure the pain and discomfort of second rate treatment, until Reeves could find a way to get him out of the country.

"I'm assuming you were successful," Reeves took a drag of a cigarette. They were sitting back in the same office Reeves had given Ray his equipment.

"I destroyed the evidence. The entire apartment went up in flames."

"And Wei Long?" Reeves asked. Ray paused.

"I took care of him." He wasn't going to tell Reeves he had spared his life, even though deep down he was starting to wish he had really "taken care of him."

"Marvelous," Reeves answered. "Then we've got nothing to worry about now. Even if he'd uploaded those files on the internet, as long as you destroyed everything he had on it, there's no way for anyone to confirm it's credibility. Easy to cover up," he took a sip of his coffee.

Ray said nothing, staring straight ahead.

"Why so glum, chum?" Reeves teased.

"I broke my arm and I got shot in the stomach."

"You'd be dead or rotting in a Chinese jail if I hadn't have showed up, too," Reeves outed his cigarette in an ash tray on his desk.

"This is the part where you say, Thanks Reeves, I was wrong about you. Thank you ever so much for saving my life!"

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Ray muttered.

"See? Remember, I told you I have a heart. It's stone cold and filled with a black, gooey substance, but still a heart."

Ray convulsed in pain, and popped another pain killer in his mouth.

"Go easy on those, unless you want to end up like another rock star O'Ding on pain meds," Reeves warned. "I'll have you treated properly once I find a way to get you out of the country. And rest assured, I've already secured a ride for you to go back to the Rim of Heaven. And this time, no parachuting. It's not like you could anyway in the condition you're in."

"Great," Ray smiled. "I ended up hanging from a tree sixty feet above the ground last time, if one of the dragons hadn't have seen me land I may have just plummeted to my death."

"Oh, we wouldn't want that to happen," Reeves said.

"Now, I knew that you were motivated only by keeping your friends secret, but I've pulled some strings and I've got you some connections. There's a monastery nearby to the Rim of Heaven. If you ever want to leave the Rim of Heaven, need supplies, or anything at all, all you need to do is ask," Reeves handed Ray a solar powered radio handset. "And you shall receive. I was also able to clear your runaway status, and you have a special status few people can achieve, Mr. Sokolov."

"What's that?" Ray asked.

"You're above the law. If you are arrested in any country, no matter what the crime, you will be sent to the nearest US embassy. Your file states you have special CIA status now, Ray, and they will have orders to immediately drop all charges and assist you in any way they can."

"Great," Ray coughed, reading the dosage instructions on the bottle of his painmeds.

"And as if you cared, that $10 million dollars is still in the bank account we set up for you," Reeves handed Ray a sheet of paper, containing a bank account number and a balance of $10,000,000.00 US dollars.

"I thought I told the president to donate it to charity," Ray laughed.

"He's a busy guy, we just never really got around to it. I guess if you ever decide to assimilate into society again, maybe you can do it in style."

Reeves cell phone vibrated, and he picked up.

"Hello?" Reeves licked his lips. "Ah, yes. As soon as possible. Right now? Excellent, I'll send him on his way."

Reeves ended the call. "That was a pilot I know, he's going to be landing on the helipad on top of our building soon to take you home. You will be taken back to the base in Pakistan we landed at after we left the Rim of Heaven, and a helicopter will drop you back off. You'll receive better care once you get there, too."

Ray put the silenced Glock 18 on Reeves' desk, a long with the shoulder holster. He was about to leave, when Reeves stopped him, holding out his hand. Ray locked eyes with Reeves, reflecting on everything he'd been through. Reeves was a slimy, dirty politician, but deep down, he had a heart, and was the reason Ray was standing here now and protected the Rim of Heaven.

They shook hands, any hostility between the two gone now.

"If you ever come back, I live in Los Angeles. Maybe I'll buy you a steak some time."

Ray, who was actually kind of touched at the offer, smiled.

"I'd like that. Feel free to come visit us any time."

"Good bye, Mr. Sokolov," Reeves said.

"Dasvidania," Ray replied in Russian, and walked out to the hallway, an armed guard escorting him to the roof. He returned to the Rim of Heaven, and his wounds were healed by dragon fire yet again. Their valley continued to remain hidden, although Ray had urges to go visit the United States again. He could return to a quiet life, living with his dragon and brownie friends. He had even spoken to Ben soon after returning, and he was to visit soon.

Wei Long had better keep his mouth shut.


End file.
